Every ten years when the Census is complete, federal law
requires that state and local governing bodies begin the process
of redistricting if there have been significant shifts in
population since the last census due to deaths, births, and
migrations. The Census Bureau has an April 1 deadline for
sending data to the states and then on to local levels. Once the
data is received, each governing body will begin its work of
recreating districting plans, which must be complete in time for
the next election. The LWVUS promotes four essential principles
to assure representative government: 1. An accurate and complete
count in Census 2010, and all future censuses, is an building
block for all redistricting effort; 2. The process used for
redistricting must be transparent to the public; 3. The
redistricting process, at all levels of government, must provide
data, tools and opportunities for the public to have direct
public input into specific plans under consideration by the
redistricting body; 4. In order to achieve