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By Jeremy Duda | Arizona Mirror
The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission is trying to look at the bright side of an expected months-long delay in the census data that is needed before they can do their job of drawing the state’s new congressional and legislative districts.
The U.S. Census Bureau announced last month that the data won’t be available until at least the end of September, which will put the AIRC well behind the pace set by its predecessors in 2001 and 2011. But commission Chairwoman Erika Neuberg said at Tuesday’s AIRC meeting that the delay could provide an opportunity for the commission to travel the state and meet with the public to find out more about Arizona’s population, its communities of interest and people’s thoughts about what has and hasn’t worked in previous redistricting processes.