In anticipation of the value of block data for redistricting, five States chose to have census block data for their entire State: Georgia, Mississippi, New York, Rhode Island, and Virginia. The expansion of the Block Statistics Program provided some States with the data needed to redistrict so that participation in the three options for the 1980 Election Precinct Program was not necessary.
The operations associated with reviewing and processing the map submissions from the 15 States responding by the April 1977 deadline were complicated by variations in the maps submitted. The maps were unique for each State; the style, format, layout, scale, vintage, map symbology, and accuracy of the maps varied from State to State. As a result, the transfer of the boundaries from these maps to Census Bureau maps, and the subsequent map review, approval, and geocoding processes, were time-consuming, complicated, and error-prone. For example, if a precinct boundary followed a feature that appeared on the State’s map but did not appear on the Census Bureau’s map, it was necessary to move the precinct boundary to an acceptable feature or combine the precincts sharing the boundary. In addition, the appropriate State official had to authorize and approve each adjustment or combination. The Census Bureau then used these boundaries to define 1980 census ED boundaries, and kept track of which EDs equated to each election precinct. At the end of the process, the Census Bureau returned all State-submitted maps to the States for their use in the redistricting process. The Census Bureau kept no copies of these maps and did not show the boundaries of the precincts on any 1980 census maps available to the public. The submission of plans was further complicated by changes occurring in governmental unit boundaries between 1977 and 1980. Approximately 1,000 incorporated places were affected by boundary changes occurring over this time period.
The Census Bureau tabulated data for 36,361 precincts using the plans that States submitted. It also tabulated data for all the R-EDs, EDs, contract block States, and other standard decennial census geographic
