Alabama sues to stop redistricting delay, privacy initiative

Alabama on Wednesday became the second state to challenge the U.S. Census Bureau's decision to delay by six months the release of data used for redrawing congressional and legislative districts, as it took aim at the accuracy of a privacy protection system that it alleged is holding up the process.

The lawsuit filed by the state, a Republican congressman and two other citizens in federal court in Alabama asks a three-judge court to force the Census Bureau to turn over redistricting data by the end of March instead of the end-of-September deadline the bureau currently is aiming for. It also asks the court to stop the statistical agency from using a new method for protecting participants' privacy, which the state argues produces faulty numbers.

The prospect of delayed or inaccurate numbers on race and other characteristics has alarmed civil rights groups and demographers, as well as lawmakers in both political parties, who are required to ensure that legislative districts include the same number of people and are not drafted to diminish racial minorities’ voting power. Census numbers are also used for the distribution of $1.5 trillion in federal funding each year for things like highways and schools.

“Once the faulty numbers are released, it will be impossible to unscramble the egg,” the lawsuit said.

In filing the suit, Alabama joined Ohio in seeking the release of the data by the legal deadline of March 31. The Alabama lawsuit alleges that the delay will harm the state's ability to hold elections by forcing state government to frantically redraw district lines and run elections on a timetable that starts six months later than normal.

The Alabama lawsuit takes on a new privacy protection technique known as differential privacy. The method aims to prevent sophisticated data companies or individuals from matching...