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The Census' prisoner miscount distorts democracy

The Census Bureau counts prisoners as if they lived voluntarily in the communities where they are incarcerated. And though most states bar prisoners from voting, the inaccurate census figures allow state lawmakers to pad district populations when drawing legislative maps. This creates prison districts with disproportionate voting power and drains political influence from the urban districts where most prisoners live.

States are not required to use the federal census

by Peter Wagner, November 10, 2003

While states must redistrict on the basis of actual population, the U.S. Constitution does not require states to use the federal census for its own redistricting:

“Although a state is entitled to the number of representatives in the House of Representatives as determined by the federal census, it is not required to use these census figures as a basis for apportioning its own legislature.”

States are therefore free to use their own census or to correct how the federal census counts prisoners.

Bethel Park v. Stans, 449 F.2d 575, 583 (3rd Cir. 1971)

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