Indiana census data due this week

Teresa Auch Schultz
Post-Tribune
February 7, 2011

Indiana’s census numbers are expected to be released this week, which means that state legislators can finally start the process of redistricting.

A release from the U.S. Census Bureau says the state will be one of four next week to get its specific numbers on its population, races and voting age. The numbers will be broken down in various categories, such as cities, counties and other areas.

The Census Bureau has already released in December total population numbers for all the states and how that total affected each state’s number of U.S. representatives. Numbers detailing the population breakdown of each state and just where exactly people live in the state didn’t start to come out until last week, however.

The numbers will be given to Gov. Mitch Daniels, along with leaders in the Indiana General Assembly then shortly after to the public, according to the release. The entire set of numbers should be available online 24 hours after its release.

State Sen. Sue Landske, R-Cedar Lake and chairwoman of the Elections Committee, said she expects it will take the state about two weeks to put all the numbers into a computer system, which both the Indiana House and Senate will use to come up with proposed redistricting maps.

The state will conduct public hearings on the proposals, she said, before each one sends their proposed maps through. The maps will be treated like any other bill, meaning a committee will vote on them before the House or Senate will vote. Because both will create their own map, the two sides will eventually have to decide on a final compromise.

Redistricting has to be done by April 29, the end of the General Assembly’s session.

Landske said the state was already ahead compared to the last census, though. The General Assembly has set a deadline of April 1 to have the proposed maps ready, but she said it would likely be March 1.

“That’s a month earlier than 10 years ago,” she said. “That’s a really good thing.”

Redistricting tends to be a source of political tension, as the minority party — which this time is the Democrats in both the House and Senate — can see its voting strongholds whittled away into other districts. Landske said she doesn’t expect to see any heated arguments, adding that the state managed to keep things civil during the last redistricting process.

“I’m sure there’ll be lots of different opinions,” she said. “But it went extremely well last time compared to what happened to other states.”