Today at 11 am ET, the Census Bureau will release the first official data from the 2010 Census, “A New Portrait of America, First 2010 Census Results.” The data will include the resident population for the nation and the states, and congressional apportionment numbers for each state.
The Bureau has compiled some FAQ about reapportionment, which is mandated by Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution.
Reapportionment is a zero-sum process. C-SPAN.org notes:
The 2010 census could affect the presidential race by creating imbalances in the electoral college votes, and the composition of Congress based partly on the number of seats a state has in the House. It takes 270 electoral college votes to win the presidency.The Census Bureau is required by law to release information pertaining to the national and state populations to the President by December 31.
This video provides an overview of reapportionment.
The press conference will air live on C-SPAN3. A live stream of the announcement will be available here.
UPDATE: Don’t mess with Texas. Already the second largest congressional delegation, the Lone Star state will gain four additional House seats.
