1. Why Do My Voting Districts Look Different?*
A peek into the review, processing, and updating of Voting Districts into the MAF/TIGER Database
Jennie Karalewich
Census Redistricting and Voting Rights Data Office
* They may not look different

2. Agenda for Today’s Presentation
Census Geography
Phase 2: Voting District Project Overview
File Review Process
Performing Verification
Data Submission Guidelines

3. Census Geography

4. Census Geography
Geography provides the framework for survey design, sample selection, data collection, tabulation, and dissemination for the Decennial Census, intracensal surveys, and collections
MAF/TIGER Database
Roads
Legal Boundaries
Statistical Boundaries
Administrative Boundaries
Rails
Water

5. Boundary Types Statistical Administrative Legal
States (and equivalents)
Counties
County subdivisions
(Towns & townships)
Places (Incorporated)
Tribal areas (Reservations and trust land)
Administrative
Election areas
School districts
Statistical
Regions
Divisions
(Census county divisions)
Places (Census designated)
Tribal areas (Statistical areas)
Census tracts
Block groups
Tabulation blocks
Metropolitan/Micropolitan areas
Urban areas
ZCTAs

6. Hierarchy of Census Geographic Entities

7. Census Blocks
The smallest geographic areas that the Census Bureau uses to tabulate decennial data.
Statistical areas bounded by visible features, such as streets, roads, streams, and railroad tracks, and by nonvisible boundaries, such as selected property lines and city, township, school district, voting district, and county limits.
Generally small in area; for example, a block in a city bounded on all sides by streets. In rural areas, a block may be hundreds of square miles

8. How It All Fits Together: Census Geography

9. How It All Fits Together: Census Topology
Vertex
Edge
Node
Face
Linear Feature

10. How It All Fits Together: Census Topology
(Route 100)
LINEAR FEATURE: Fairview Ave /S1400
LINEAR FEATURE: Route 100 /S1400
Boundary Fairview Township/ Lee Township
Edge

11. How It All Fits Together: Census Topology
Voting District
Edges
Incorporated Place
Integrated
Layer
County

12. Voting District Project Overview

13. Phase 2: Voting District Project Timeline
Activity
Date
Initial Delineation
December 2017 – May 2018
Verification I
December 2018 – May 2019
Verification II
December 2019 – March 2020
Activities
States provide their Election Districts/Precincts/Wards
States can review linear features
Add/Delete features
Correct misaligned features
Update Area Landmark (state parks, prisons, etc.) boundaries
Suggest updates to legal boundaries

14. A Look Back at Voting District Project (VTD)
Florida Participation Rate
67/67 Counties
100%
9 counties submitted BAS Updates
Nationwide Participation Rate
2729/3219 Counties
85%
All counties will be submitting VTDV Updates !

15. VTD Verification (VTDV) Timeline
Activity
Date
Initial Delineation
December 2017 – May 2018
Verification I
December 2018 – May 2019
Verification II
December 2019 – March 2020
Activities
States provide their Election Districts/Precincts/Wards
States can review linear features
Add/Delete features
Correct misaligned features
Update Area Landmark (state parks, prisons, etc.) boundaries
Suggest updates to legal boundaries

16. VTD and VTDV Timeline 2018-2019 January May August October
Counties submit updates to the Legislative Office of Economic and Demographic Research (EDR) for Review
Counties review their data and make VTD/V Updates
EDR reviews the updates to the Census Bureau
EDR submits the updates to the Census Bureau
CRVRDO reviews the updates to ensure they meet MAF/TIGER standards
CRVRDO submits the updates to the Geography Division
Updates are applied to the MAF/TIGER Database
Updates are reflected in the partnership shapefiles
(Dec/Jan)

17. VTDV2 Timeline Activities
Activity
Date
Initial Delineation
December 2017 – May 2018
Verification I
December 2018 – May 2019
Verification II
December 2019 – March 2020
Activities
States make final adjustments to ensure that VTDs and legal boundaries are aligned

18. VTDV2 Timeline 2020 January March Summer
Counties submit updates to the Legislative Office of Economic and Demographic Research (EDR) for Review
Counties review their data and make VTDV 2 Updates to align geographies
EDR reviews the updates to the Census Bureau
EDR submits the updates to the Census Bureau
CRVRDO reviews the updates to ensure they meet MAF/TIGER standards
CRVRDO submits the updates to the Geography Division
Updates are applied to the MAF/TIGER Database

19. Something to Keep in Mind
Ongoing Geographic Update Operations until 2020
American Indian and Alaskan Native Programs
Boundary and Annexation Survey
School District Review
Local Update of Census Addresses
Participant Statistical Areas Program
Geographic Support System (GSS)
New Construction

20. Why does my data look different?*
* Again it may not look different

21. Legislative Office of Economic and Demographic Research (EDR) Review Process
Ensure the files meet VTD Submission Guidelines
Work with counties to resolve issues prior to Census Submission
Review submission files for completeness and correctness
GIS Review of data

22. CRVRDO File Review Process
Coverage Gaps
Attribute Checks
Small Areas
Multiple Cycles
VTD Boundaries
Add Lines
Overlaps*
Medians*
Gaps*
Slivers
* Proposed for VTDV

23. CRVRDO File Review Process- Coverage Gaps
Why: We ensure that there is wall to wall coverage for the VTDs in the county
How to fix: If it is unclear in which VTD the unassigned area belongs in, we reach out to the state

24. CRVRDO File Review Process- Attributes
Why: Certain attributes are required for the file to be inserted into the MAF/TIGER database
How to fix: We can add the missing attributes and contact the state to make the updates in future submissions

25. CRVRDO File Review Process- Small Areas
Why: Small VTDs may be remnants from VTDs
How to fix: For Florida, we generally accept these due to the unique voting district geographies. If it seems out of place, we reach out

26. CRVRDO File Review Process- Multiple Cycles
Why: Pieces of non- contiguous VTDs may be remnants from previous VTDs
How to fix: For Florida, we generally accept these due to the unique voting district geographies. If it seems out of place, we reach out

27. CRVRDO File Review Process- VTD Boundaries
Why: VTDs need to have boundaries that are based on current or new edges that have been added by the participant.
How to fix: Depending on the number of edges needed, we can complete in house or send back to EDR

28. CRVRDO File Review Process- Add Lines
Why: Due to MAF/TIGER Topology and processing standards, incorrect spatial features need to be deleted from existing TIGER and re-added.
How to fix: Depending on the number of edges, we can complete in house or send back to EDR
Pink Line- Existing Edge
Green Line- Where the edge should be

29. CRVRDO File Review Process- Add Lines
Why: The reshapes were done correctly….however MAF/TIGER has an accuracy of 7.6 meters
How to fix: Both the Adds and Deletes would be removed.
Red Line- delete
Green Line- add

30. CRVRDO File Review Process- Incomplete BAS
Why: To perform BAS type updates, both the lines and the faces need to be moved and flagged
How to fix: We usually return the file for correction or strip out the BAS updates
Pink Line- Existing Edge
Green Line- Add Line
Gray Area- Incorporated Place

31. CRVRDO File Review Process- Overlaps
Why: TIGER faces can only be assigned to a single VTD
How to fix: We reach out to EDR for guidance

32. CRVRDO File Review Process- Medians
Why: 7.6 m accuracy, no housing units, Lanes may already be block boundaries
How to fix: We will remove the new line and align the boundary to the road. If there are multiple instances, we may send the file back to EDR
Green Line- Add Line Yellow Lines- Existing dual carriageway

33. CRVRDO File Review Process- Gaps
Why: VTDs need edges for their boundaries, if there is a gap, the VTD will “bleed” through the gap
How to fix: Depending on the number of edges, we can extend the edges in house or send back to EDR

34. Slivers- When Geographies Do Not Align
Slivers are small blocks created when the Voting District boundary and nearby legal boundaries or highways do not align
The sliver boundaries mirror existing boundaries or highways
They generally do not have populations
They are generally small in area
If the slivers are not resolved, they will become Census blocks
However, slivers may be unavoidable in certain circumstances

35. Slivers! In this example, VTD boundaries are in the road centerline
Incorporated Place boundaries are along the property line
VTD Boundary
Inc Place Boundary

36. Slivers! Unresolved: There is the potential for 4 blocks in this image1
Unresolved: There is the potential for 4 blocks in this image
3 of which would be slivers
zero population
small area 4 2 3

37. Slivers!
To resolve this, we aligned the VTD boundary to the incorporated place boundary 1

38. Slivers! 1 2 3 5 6 10 9 8 7 4 11

39. Slivers!
Incorporated Place layer
VTD layer

40. Slivers!

41. Slivers! 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

42. When Slivers Are Unavoidable
Slivers are accepted:
When the geography does not align
Laws or legislation require the VTD boundary to a specific location
i.e. In Louisiana, VTD boundaries must follow visible feature
When there is population/housing units in the sliver area

43. Boundary Quality and Reconciliation Project
The goal of the BQARP is to assess, analyze, and improve the spatial quality of legal and administrative boundaries within the MTDB
BQARP aligns boundaries to parcel and Public Land Survey System boundaries where applicable
Once a boundary has gone through BQARP, it is “locked”, meaning it cannot be moved, avoiding incidental changes

44. BQARP in Florida 367 entities 21,303 total changes statewide
Most changes were in place for VTD updates in 2018
Green- old place boundaries
Red place boundaries

45. Resolving Slivers
Generally voting districts boundaries should align with legal boundaries
If the legal boundary is wrong, the change can be submitted to our BAS team who will review the change (annexation or deannexation)
Please do not realign the legal boundaries to match the Voting District Boundaries
If you are seeing discrepancies please reach out to our office

46. Performing Verification

47. Review Voting Districts and Geography
Voting District Verification (2019)
Review VTDs
Review VTD Attributes
Make any linear feature updates
Make any legal boundary updates
Make any area landmark update
Voting District Verification 2 (2020)
Review VTDs
Review VTD Attributes
Make any linear feature updates
Make any legal boundary updates
Make any area landmark updates

48. What if I used the 2010 Voting Districts?
The 2010 boundaries were conflated to 2017 TIGER data
Boundaries may not be aligned to the same features due to TIGER updates
Please review the boundaries conflated to the correct location
The following counties submitted their 2010 VTD boundaries: Bradford, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Franklin, Gilchrist, Glades, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Holmes, Lake, Liberty, Madison, Monroe, Santa Rosa, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, and Wakulla

49. Data Submission Guidelines

50. Review of VTD Submission Shapefiles
Required VTD Shapefiles:
vtdv19_<ssccc>_complete_vtd

51. Review of VTD Submission Shapefiles
Required Linear Features Shapefiles:
vtdv19_<ssccc>_ln_changes

52. Review of VTD Submission Shapefiles
Required BAS Changes Shapefiles:
vtdv19_<ssccc>_changes_<type of geography>
vtdv19_<ssccc>_wholeentity__<type of geography>
vtdv19_<ssccc>_ln_changes (if applicable)
Types of Geography include: incplace, cousub, concity

53. Review of VTD Submission Shapefiles
Required Area Landmark Features Shapefiles:
vtdv19_<ssccc>_alndk_changes

54. Thanks! Voting District Verification Project Webinar
January 10th, 2019
2-4pm EST
Web link:
Dial-In-Number:
Passcode:
Please RSVP to
For More Information:
Census Redistricting and Voting Rights Data Office
Jennie Karalewich

55. Creation of Census Blocks
Tabulation blocks are built from an algorithm which assigns edges values*
Boundaries for geographic entities have the highest value
Primary roads (e.g. state highways) generally have a higher value than neighborhood roads
Named neighborhood roads generally have a higher value than unnamed neighborhood roads
Neighborhood roads generally have a higher value than service roads or ramps
Roads generally have a higher value than power lines
* Edges flagged as Must Holds will be held as block boundaries