Dallas Census and Redistricting

Estimates are that the return rate for the 2020 Census in Dallas was just 59.7%, even lower than the 2010 estimate of 61.9%. District 2 which wraps around parts of downtown Dallas had just a 53.1% return rate. It means some districts are bound to have many more residents than others when new city council district lines are drawn based on these numbers. The redistricting process started Wednesday with a City Council briefing. The current fight over certifying 2020 election results has an impact on whether undocumented residents will be excluded in the census, further reducing the population in some districts. Ken Kalthoff spoke with Bill Betzen, a citizen redistricting expert, who was very closely involved in past redistricting battles in Dallas.