Consortium will promote a comprehensive census and fair redistricting process with real-time analysis, a statewide data clearinghouse, and education and training programs

Albany, NY — The Rockefeller Institute of Government today launched NY Counts, a cutting-edge voting rights and open government resource center designed to guide New Yorkers through the 2020 census and redistricting process.

NY Counts is committed to the principle that nonpartisan and empirically based analysis must govern the census and redistricting process. The consortium will assist policymakers in conducting these processes fairly and accurately with real-time analysis, original research, a statewide data clearinghouse, and educational programs.

NY Counts, part of the Rockefeller Institute’s new Center for Law and Policy Solutions, will be led by Rockefeller Institute Fellow Jeffrey M. Wice, a nationally recognized expert on the census, redistricting, and voting rights.

“The census has enormous consequences in terms of representation in Congress and the distribution of federal funding for important programs from healthcare to infrastructure,” said Rockefeller Institute of Government President Jim Malatras. “Getting this right — or wrong — will affect every New Yorker in one way or another. I’m confident that the NY Counts initiative will help promote a fair and accurate census and redistricting process in 2020.”

“Census and redistricting are the building blocks of our democracy,” said Wice. “The shapes and sizes of legislative districts determine who is elected and who will decide our state’s most critical issues — where roads are built, how schools are funded, and where medical facilities are placed. Data from the 2020 census will be used to underpin countless decisions for a decade. It is critical that we ensure it is conducted as accurately and fairly as possible.”

This first-of-its-kind statewide resource center will help educate the public about issues related to redistricting, including new standards adopted by courts to end racial and partisan gerrymandering; provide guidance and technical assistance to lawmakers and the public on census and redistricting processes, particularly in historically hard-to-count communities; and conduct comparative research and analysis on redistricting efforts in other states.

Follow NY Counts at www.rockinst.org/nycounts.

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