The results of the US census will empower the Republicans. Congressional seats will be redistributed and mapping – ČT24 – Czech television will be redrawn

The allocation of seats in the Congress of Representatives among the 50 states of the United States is adjusted every ten years based on the census so that the voting power of the regions matches the number of the current residents. In addition to New York and California, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia will lose one seat.

Two representatives will join Texas, and one in Florida, Oregon, Montana, Colorado and North Carolina. New York times NotesThe most recent data indicates the continuation of decades of trends involving an influx of people from the Northeast and Midwest to the South and West.

In some cases, only a dozen residents have decided to redistribute the seats. For example, authorities have warned that if New York had 89 additional people, they would keep their seat at the Minnesota account.

The prospects are promising for the Republicans

The shift may increase the chances of Republicans securing a majority in the House of Representatives in next year’s elections. The House of Representatives and the third in the Senate will be decided in the fall of 2022. The results of the census will also be reflected in the presidential election, where there are as many electors in the states as there are representatives in Congress. This system is already considered more beneficial to the Republicans.

Analysts at the University of Virginia said: “In general, we expect Republicans to benefit more from these changes than Democrats toward the House of Representatives for 2022.” They indicated that Texas and Florida would have fifteen or sixteen more members of Congress than in 1960, while the California delegation would shrink for the first time in US history.

After the census has taken place, electoral district boundaries will be redrawn, which may also benefit one party or the other. Even then, the Republicans have the upper hand. Thanks to the success of state elections, this process is controlled by a much greater number of states than the Democrats. Additionally, in several states, including Florida and Georgia, due to a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, new maps will not be subject to review by the federal Department of Justice.

Reuters also reports that Republicans in Texas, North Carolina and Florida have severely mishandled the past by purposeful redrawing of borders, the so-called delineation manipulation, to gain an advantage.

According to Reuters, the publication of the first results was delayed. The detailed data used to redraw election maps will not be released by authorities until the fall.

The slowest growth since the Great Depression

According to last year’s census, the population of the United States grew to 331.5 million, the second largest in the past decade since the end of the 18th century. The number of Americans only grew more slowly in the 1930s during the Great Depression.

In the past 10 years, fewer children have been born in the country, and due to former President Donald Trump’s harsh anti-immigration policy, the United States has also accepted fewer immigrants.

In the past year, the coronavirus pandemic has greatly complicated the statistic. However, Commerce Secretary Gina Raymond described the data as complete and accurate. Statistics are also important for distributing federal government subsidies or for local infrastructure planning.