The purpose of the Redistricting Data Program (RDP) operation was to provide states the opportunity to identify the geographic areas for which specific tabulations are needed for the purpose of redistricting, and to deliver those tabulations to the states within one year of Census Day.

The 2020 RDP was organized into five phases. During Phase 1 and Phase 2, the Census Bureau collected the geographic area boundary information the states identified as needed for redistricting. In Phase 3, the 2020 RDP released the redistricting data tabulations for all 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico.

Phase 4 of the 2020 RDP collected the 118th Congressional and 2022 State Legislative District plans states generated after receiving the redistricting data tabulations. Program staff then used those boundaries to create and publish the 2020 Census 118th Congressional District Summary File. Lastly, during Phase 5, the 2020 RDP collected lessons learned and feedback from state participants, much of which was used to inform this assessment.

The results from this assessment recommended that the RDP operation should continue to be organized into five phases with similar timing for each phase. Additional recommendations include the acknowledgement of risks and to prepare a plan in case the program needs to be conducted virtually, and to continue to release the redistricting data at the block level, in legacy format, and on the Census online platform (data.census.gov).