Lawmakers told redistricting will demand special session in 2021

The Nevada Legislature will need to call a special session next year to finalize redrawing its political districts, a task that was scheduled for completion during the planned 2021 Legislative Session but is now on a delayed timeline because of the coronavirus pandemic.

If the state doesn’t voluntarily hold a special session, it will be at “significant risk” for a lawsuit and court intervention, state attorneys told lawmakers Wednesday.

Nationwide shutdowns prompted by COVID-19 forced the U.S. Census Bureau to slow or halt operations, which involves extensive door-to-door outreach to homes where residents fail to complete the census survey on their own. The Census Bureau has extended the deadline for completing the census to Oct. 31. That in turn has pushed back the date when states expect to receive the population information they need to redistrict. They were originally expected to receive their finalized data by the end of April, which would fall during Nevada’s 2021 Legislative Session. States now expect to receive the info by the end of July 2021, possibly almost two months after the legislative session ends.

Legal analysts from the Legislative Counsel Bureau told lawmakers on the interim redistricting committee that the timing poses a problem for Nevada, where the state Legislature only meets every other year.

Read more: https://www.nevadacurrent.com/2020/05/28/lawmakers-told-redistricting-will-demand-special-session-in-2021/