[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC STING] - Hi everyone, Steve Adubato.

We kick off the program talking about really important issues, including the 2030 census.

We are honored to be joined by Jesse Burns, who's executive director of the League of Women Voters of New Jersey.

Jesse, great to have you with us.

- Thank you so much for having me.

- Jesse, the 2030 census, people may say, "What is it?

Why does it matter to me and what impact does it have when it comes to federal money?"

First of all, what is it?

- Sure, so the census is the counting of everybody in the country.

It's incredibly important and happens every 10 years and it determines funding, political representation, things like city planning and emergency response, as well as it's used in research and academic studies.

So it's incredibly important for us to have an understanding of what our country looks like and where our population is.

- Okay, so it's 2026 as we're taping, midway through the year, be seen a little bit later.

What kinds of things need to be done in 26, 27, 2029 to be prepared for the census?

- It's definitely not too early to start preparing for the census.

It's a huge operation and it's already happening at the federal level.

Other states like New York have undergone significant work towards a complete count already.

They fear losing a seat.

It's really important that we get started.

- One second.

I'm sorry for interrupting, Jesse.

When you say losing a seat, this is the part that is critically important.

There are obviously two houses of Congress.

United States Senate has a fixed number based on the Constitution.

Last time I checked, it's still 102 per state.

There are 435 members of the lower House, the House of Representatives.

Last time I checked, that number keeps changing and each state has a certain number of House seats dependent upon population.

So New York's concerned, pick up that may lose a seat.

Jesse.

- So last time in census 2020, New York lost a seat in the House of Representatives by a very thin margin.

Something like 89 people.

- Wow.

- In their count, led to them losing a seat in Congress in the House of Representatives specifically.

So you can see how incredibly important it is to make sure that we are investing in New Jersey and a complete count now.

Specifically, some really important work is coming up.

It sounds wonky, but I promise you it isn't.

There's something called the local update for the census addresses, otherwise known as LUCA, that is opening up soon in the spring.

What this is, is the Census Bureau sends the states and the municipalities a list of addresses and we need to make sure that those addresses are correct.

If we miss an address, we miss a person.

If we miss a person, we miss dollars and we miss political representation and we miss power.

So this kind of work needs to start happening now.

- But I'm curious about this, and you can help folks understand.

You talked about political representation.

Since Congressional/House districts are reapportioned, supposedly, every 10 years based on the census, what the heck is going on that in mid 10 year, mid in the 10 years, like five, six, seven years, whatever it is, there are certain states that are attempting, starting with Texas, I believe, starting to reapportion those districts and those who reapportion the districts could either be those who control the state legislature or some independent body, which I believe exists in New Jersey.

It's a long-winded way of getting to this.

Why the heck are states redistricting for House seats when it's supposed to be done based on the results of the 2030 census?

- So mid-cycle redistricting is unfortunate and it is something that we're seeing across the country.

As you said, this started in Texas under President Trump's urging to redistrict early to get more GOP seats.

This was ahead of the 2025 elections and then California responded.

A few other states-- - One second.

California, to be clear, California responded to get, try to get more Democratic districts, Democratic seats to make up for allegedly what they believe is going on in Texas.

And is it snowballing, Jesse?

- Yeah, that's correct.

- So after a little bit of a lull, the Supreme Court issued a devastating decision that basically renders section two of the Voting Rights Act, the Federal Voting Rights Act inoperable to challenge against racial discrimination.

So what this means is states across the South immediately started redistricting during elections to eliminate and dilute Black voting districts in the South.

So now what we have is discussions around what is the response to what is happening across the South?

And more states are considering mid-cycle redistricting ahead of the 2028 midterm elections.

- Where are we in New Jersey on that?

- There has been some conversation in New Jersey about this.

We have kind of a different timeline.

We could put this on the 2026 ballot, but I really urge against that.

That would be very rushed.

It would mean that it would have to, we'd have to call back a summer session or the legislature would have to do that during this busy budget season.

- And we're talking about, when you say calling back, you mean the state legislature?

- Yes, the state legislature to put it on the ballot.

But we caution very much against mid-cycle redistricting in New Jersey because New Jersey's a unique state.

We're very dense and we're very diverse.

That means that when you redraw the maps here, particularly without the 2030 census data, you risk diluting the very communities that are already most harmed by the gutting of the Voting Rights Act.

So it's not really the best solution if you're looking to help the people that are being harmed most by the VRA.

- 30 seconds, if you can give us a concise answer to this complex issue.

President, others, rigging of elections, particularly when the elections don't turn out the way certain people want them to.

Is there any reason that you know of at the League of Women Voters, and you and your colleagues monitor this all the time, to not trust the results of our elections?

- No.

- Particularly in Jersey.

- No, there definitely isn't.

And I can also say that New Jersey has so many layers of election security built in.

There's voting right advocates like us that run election protection work, that if things happen at the polls, voter intimidation, improper ID requests, we're able to respond in real time.

The Division of Elections, the Secretary of State, and the AG's office also run election security efforts.

And local election officials do their job well and should be trusted in our state.

- And PS, go on our website before we finish the segment, steveadubato.org for the interview we did with the Secretary of State/Lieutenant Governor, Dale Caldwell, on the issue of election security and the reasons to trust the results of elections.

Jesse Burns, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters in New Jersey doing important work every day.

Thank you, Jesse.

- Thank you for having me.

- You got to stay with us.

We'll be right back.

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