The state of Ohio and the U.S. Census Bureau have asked a judge to place on hold their court fight over when data used for redrawing congressional and legislative districts will be released.
As part of a settlement agreement, the Census Bureau promised to release the redistricting data no later than Aug. 16. The bureau also agreed to provide Ohio with twice-monthly updates on its progress toward meeting that deadline.
According to the agreement, Ohio will drop its lawsuit against the statistical agency once the redistricting data is released.
The Census Bureau says it was unable to meet its original March 31 deadline because of the pandemic.
The U.S. Census Bureau announced in April that Ohio would lose one of its 16 seats in the House of Representatives in 2023.
Ohio Republican Attorney General Dave Yost’s sued the Biden administration earlier this year, attempting to force the results of last year’s Census to be released by the end of March.
Ohio had hoped to start drawing new legislative and Congressional maps this year, for the first time under a process approved by voters.
Congressional maps are redrawn after a census, and the U.S. Census Bureau said its data won’t be available until September due to delays caused by the pandemic and changes from the Trump administration.
