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2012 Redistricting for Databank Advocacy Clients
William Naylor
posted this on Jan 06 02:35 pm
As a result of population shifts measured by the 2010 Census, new State and Federal legislative districts are being drawn in preparation for the 2012 elections. Several Databank Advocacy clients have asked when the new legislative districts will be updated in the system. Hopefully, this will answer those questions.
The first thing to note about the Advocacy module is that it’s primarily designed to enable activists to easily send communications to their elected representatives. That means that the automated districting in our system is designed to assign districts based on the currently active political districts, and to target communications at the politicians representing those districts.
The only states in the US that have active new districts, meaning they have already elected people in those new districts, are Virginia, New Jersey and Louisiana. For those three states, new districts will be updated in January 2012.
Every state in the US other than Virginia, New Jersey and Louisiana will elect representatives using the new districts in November 2012. Those newly elected representatives will not take office until January, 2013. For those forty-seven states, the new districts will be updated in the Databank in January 2013.
For those organizations wishing to direct communications to people other than currently elected representatives, the Databank Advocacy module allows you to add as many additional target records as you desire.
Organizations have been using the Databank Advocacy systems since 2000, so we’ve been through the redistricting process before. Our experience in 2002 showed us that redistricting is a complicated, sometimes messy process that varies significantly from one state to the next. It’s likely that some states will delay adoption of new districts because of legal issues. While we’ll work to make the transition to new districts as smooth as possible, there might be circumstances beyond our control that delay the January 2013 updating of districts in certain states.
One other note about how districts are appended in the Databank. Some advocacy systems rely on zip code-to-district matching provided by third-party vendors. The Databank uses in-house census block-level geocoding to assign districts. Testing has shown that census block matching is more accurate in assigning political districts than zip code matching. Because the Databank system is in-house and the data comes directly from the US Census Bureau, we have more control over this data and are not dependent on third-party vendors.
We will keep clients informed as this process moves forward. If you have questions about your Databank Advocacy system or redistricting, please send a support request through the Databank Support System.
The first thing to note about the Advocacy module is that it’s primarily designed to enable activists to easily send communications to their elected representatives. That means that the automated districting in our system is designed to assign districts based on the currently active political districts, and to target communications at the politicians representing those districts.
The only states in the US that have active new districts, meaning they have already elected people in those new districts, are Virginia, New Jersey and Louisiana. For those three states, new districts will be updated in January 2012.
Every state in the US other than Virginia, New Jersey and Louisiana will elect representatives using the new districts in November 2012. Those newly elected representatives will not take office until January, 2013. For those forty-seven states, the new districts will be updated in the Databank in January 2013.
For those organizations wishing to direct communications to people other than currently elected representatives, the Databank Advocacy module allows you to add as many additional target records as you desire.
Organizations have been using the Databank Advocacy systems since 2000, so we’ve been through the redistricting process before. Our experience in 2002 showed us that redistricting is a complicated, sometimes messy process that varies significantly from one state to the next. It’s likely that some states will delay adoption of new districts because of legal issues. While we’ll work to make the transition to new districts as smooth as possible, there might be circumstances beyond our control that delay the January 2013 updating of districts in certain states.
One other note about how districts are appended in the Databank. Some advocacy systems rely on zip code-to-district matching provided by third-party vendors. The Databank uses in-house census block-level geocoding to assign districts. Testing has shown that census block matching is more accurate in assigning political districts than zip code matching. Because the Databank system is in-house and the data comes directly from the US Census Bureau, we have more control over this data and are not dependent on third-party vendors.
We will keep clients informed as this process moves forward. If you have questions about your Databank Advocacy system or redistricting, please send a support request through the Databank Support System.
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