An Introduction to the Statewide Database September 24, 2012 Karin Mac Donald & Nicole Boyle Berkeley Law

A little history: A bipartisan agreement after Prop. 140 in 1990 moved creation of redistricting database from Legislature to independent body – UCB selected Goal: to create a database that is non-partisan, free from political influence, academic, public, free and always available Not cheap: Legislature invests millions of dollars each decade to create and distribute; but cheaper than lawsuits!

The Statewide Database today: The Legislature shall take all steps necessary to ensure that a complete and accurate computerized database is available for redistricting, and that procedures are in place to provide the public ready access to redistricting data and computer software for drawing maps. Upon the commission's formation and until its dissolution, the Legislature shall coordinate these efforts with the commission. (Government Code Sec (7) (b))

What is in the Official Redistricting Dataset? Same data that were produced for 2001 redistricting  Census Geography  Census Data (PL94-171)  Statement of Registration Data for 10 years  Statement of Vote for 10 years Added for 2011  Citizen Voting Age Population (CVAP) separately  Selected Older Elections  Documentation

What is NOT in the Official Dataset? Does not include  American Community Survey (CVAP separate)  Adjusted Census Data (i.e. Prisons)  Racially Polarized Voting Analysis  Local Election Results  Community of Interest database  Neighborhood database

Census Data in the SWDB Basic Information/ Data that jurisdictions are required by law to use for Redistricting Census 2010 Redistricting Data (Public Law , or PL94-171) contains the count of the U.S. population BLOCK-LEVEL dataset Includes data on people's race and ethnicity, for both the total and the voting age population Information is based on answers to the questions in the Census 2010 Short-Form questionnaire.

Census Geography: Counties 1,523 Census Places 8,057 Census Tracts 23,212 Census Block Groups 710,145 Census Blocks

Census Geography

California is divided into counties….Counties are divided into tracts… Census Geography Tracts are divided into block groups… And block groups are divided into blocks

5 detailed tables in the PL Subject Table # Race Total population P1 Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race Total population P2 Race for the Population 18 Years and Over Total population 18 years and over P3 Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race for the Population 18 Years and Over Total population 18 years and over P4 Occupancy Status Housing units H1

P1. Race Universe: Total population Total: Population of one race: White alone Black or African American alone American Indian and Alaska Native alone Asian alone Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone Some other race alone Repeats for the Population of two or more races….. P2. Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race Universe: Total population Total: Hispanic or Latino Not Hispanic or Latino: Population of one race: White alone Black or African American alone American Indian and Alaska Native alone Asian alone Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone Some other race alone Repeats for the Population of two or more races….. Census Data

P3. Race For The Population 18 Years and Over P1 variables are repeated for the Population 18 Years and Over P4. Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino By Race For The Population 18 Years And Over P2 variables are repeated for the Population 18 Years and Over H1. Occupancy Status Universe: Housing units Total: Occupied Vacant Census Data

Aside from the Redistricting Block Level Dataset: what’s in the SWDB? Registration and Statement of Vote Data by precinct Datasets available starting in 1992 Datasets for Statewide General Elections For 1990s some Primaries processed For 2000s all Primaries processed

Processing Registration Data: Voters are geocoded to individually assign them to their proper census block.

REGABS POLLV VOTE California Statewide codebook by rgprec by rrprec by srpreccodebook by rgprec by rrprec by srprec codebookodebook by rgprec by rrprec by srprecby rgprec by rrprec by srprec codebook by rgprec by rrprec by srpreccodebook by rgprec by rrprec by srprec codebook by rgprec by rrprec by srpreccodebook by rgprec by rrprec by srprec County 001 (Alameda) by rgprec by rrprec by srprecby rgprec by rrprec by srprec by rgprec by rrprec by srprecby rgprec by rrprec by srprec by rgprec by rrprec by srprecby rgprec by rrprec by srprec by rgprec by rrprec by srprecby rgprec by rrprec by srprec County 003 (Alpine) by rgprec by rrprec by srprecby rgprec by rrprec by srprec by rgprec by rrprec by srprecby rgprec by rrprec by srprec mail-ballot county by rgprec by rrprec by srprecby rgprec by rrprec by srprec County 005 (Amador) by rgprec by rrprec by srprecy rgprec by rrprec by srprec by rgprec by rrprec by srprecby rgprec by rrprec by srprec by rgprec by rrprec by srprecby rgprec by rrprec by srprec by rgprec by rrprec by srprecby rgprec by rrprec by srprec Registration Data in the SWDB

Precinct Types: RG = Original Registration Precincts (designated by County Registrar) RR = Registration Precincts (geographic unit constructed for statistical merging purposes by SWDB) SV = Original Voting Precincts (designated by County Registrar) SR = Consolidated Precinct (geographic unit constructed for statistical merging purposes by SWDB)

VariableStartEndFormatDescription TOTREG1620F5.0Total registration DEM2125F5.0Democratic Party Registration REP2630F5.0Republican Party Registration AIP3135F5.0American Independent Party Registration PAF3640F5.0Peace and Freedom Party Registration MSC4145F5.0Miscellaneous Registration LIB4650F5.0Libertarian Party Registration NLP5155F5.0Natural Law Party Registration GRN5660F5.0Green Party Registration REF6165F5.0Reform Party Registration DCL6670F5.0Declined to State Registration MALE9195F5.0Male FEMALE96100F5.0Female Statement of Registration

VariableStartEndFormatDescription HISPDEM101105F5.0Latino Democrats HISPREP106110F5.0Latino Republicans HISPDCL111115F5.0Latino Declined to State HISPOTH116120F5.0Latino Other Party REPEATS for: Jewish Korean Japanese Chinese Asian Indian Vietnamese Filipino Statement of Registration

VariableStartEndFormatDescription DEMMUNK291295F5.0Dem Male age unknown DEMM F5.0Dem Male age DEMM F5.0Dem Male age DEMM F5.0Dem Male age DEMM F5.0Dem Male age DEMM F5.0Dem Male age DEMM65PL286290F5.0Dem Male age 65 Plus DEMFUNK326330F5.0Dem female age unknown DEMF F5.0Dem female age DEMF F5.0Dem female age DEMF F5.0Dem female age DEMF F5.0Dem female age DEMF F5.0Dem female age DEMF65PL321325F5.0Dem female age 65 Plus REPEATS FOR: Republican Declined to State Other Party

Statement of Registration VariableStartEndFormatDescription RREG1G541545F5.0REP registered 1 cycle RREG2G546550F5.0REP registered 2 cycles RREG3G551555F5.0REP registered 3 cycles RREG4G556560F5.0REP registered 4 cycles RREG5G561565F5.0REP registered 5 cycles RREG6G566570F5.0REP registered 6 cycles RREG7G571575F5.0REP registered 7 cycles RREG8G576580F5.0REP registered 8 cycles RREG9G581585F5.0REP registered 9+ cycles REPEATS FOR: Democrat Declined to State Other Party

Statement of Vote Electoral data processed primarily for racially polarized voting analyses (RPV) Individualized data not available Precincts are the smallest unit of analysis for electoral data and change from election to election Precincts do not correspond to census geography Converted precinct data to census geography (for redistricting dataset) Between redistrictings, data are available on the precinct level only SWDB provides conversion files to move data from precinct to precinct or from precinct to census geography

Statement of Vote 2008 California General Election 62,404 Precincts in the State

Statement of Vote Precincts do not correspond to census geography

Statement of Vote For each election, the database includes:  Turnout  Statewide Contests  Legislative Contests  Propositions see for example: for codebook see here:

Also available on the SWDB site: Reports Census Reports Statewide Electoral and Registration Reports Zipcode Reports Miscellaneous Reports California Official Statements of Registration California Official Statements of Vote Web GIS for new and old districts! Lots of maps

What’s new at SWDB? 1. New in the p12:  reg data for for reg voters that voted via forced mail ballot precincts  reg data for reg voters that did not vote  g08 and g10 sov data by p12 reg precinct 2. pdf maps of the new districts and district summaries for the new districts, 3.rg to rr to sr precinct conversion files for the 2003S to 2010G elections. 4. reports of the 2010G G data for the new districts for the top two candidates in each race (i.e.no 3rd party candidate data for the new districts) 5. precinct to 2010 census block conversion files

What’s in the works? new district reports with 3rd party candidate data new and old district overlay reports and maps ESRI based webgis

What are the Advantages of the SWBD? Everyone uses the same database  Saves $$$  Transparency builds trust!  “Other side” issues eliminated  More time for discussions about lines than data Availability to other jurisdictions in CA  Saves $$$  Cities, counties, special districts – better data! Debugging over time by users  Error goes down; issues resolved promptly Allows public to familiarize themselves with data  Can be used between redistrictings Avoids building at extreme time pressure  Cuts down on data collection issues  Leaves time to deal with ‘surprises’

Questions?