2020 Census
February 24, 2023 -
The Census Bureau has released its first round of corrections for the 2020 population count, and communities in Southern states will benefit thanks to prisoners being added to their populations. Reform advocates say this "prison gerrymandering" distorts democracy and paints a misleading picture of community populations for planning purposes. A growing number of states, including several in the South, are taking action to end it.
November 16, 2021 -
The 2020 census undercounted the overall U.S. population by just 0.5%, but much bigger undercounts in Southern states will cost them millions of dollars in federal health care funding for low-income communities, according to a new report from the Urban Institute.
October 12, 2021 -
The recent census results showed that the South is becoming more diverse, but state legislators are now drawing election districts that could keep communities of color from influencing congressional and legislative races.
August 19, 2021 -
The latest census data shows the U.S. has grown less white over the past decade, driven in part by an increase in the Latino population in Southern states including Georgia and Texas. But it's unclear if population growth in communities of color will translate to political clout in the upcoming state redistricting process.
May 7, 2021 -
While Southern states didn't grow as fast as many expected, more than half of U.S. population gains in the 2020 census were in the South, boosting the region's clout.
February 25, 2021 -
With census data now set to be released to the states at the end of September, six months later than usual, election officials across the South are scrambling to prevent major redistricting challenges.
April 9, 2020 -
The decennial U.S. population count is underway and will be used for everything from drawing new congressional districts to deciding where to allocate federal resources — including any potential coronavirus vaccine. But the pandemic is complicating the process and raising concerns about potential undercounts, which would inflict more pain on suffering communities.
