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Gerrymandering architect’s files figure in census, map cases

In this Aug. 13, 2001, file frame from video provided by C-SPAN, Tom Hofeller speaks during an event at the Republican National Committee in Washington. Hofeller, a mastermind of GOP redistricting preached keeping electronic records secure. But after his death in 2018, his own files found their way to the heart of lawsuits over a U.S. census question on citizenship and North Carolina s legislative redistricting. (C-SPAN via AP)
In this Aug. 13, 2001, file frame from video provided by C-SPAN, Tom Hofeller speaks during an event at the Republican National Committee in Washington. Hofeller, a mastermind of GOP redistricting preached keeping electronic records secure. But after his death in 2018, his own files found their way to the heart of lawsuits over a U.S. census question on citizenship and North Carolina s legislative redistricting. (C-SPAN via AP) In this Aug. 13, 2001, file frame from video provided by C-SPAN, Tom Hofeller speaks during an event at the Republican National Committee in Washington. Hofeller, a mastermind of GOP redistricting preached keeping electronic records secure. But after his death in 2018, his own files found their way to the heart of lawsuits over a U.S. census question on citizenship and North Carolina s legislative redistricting. (C-SPAN via AP)

By Associated Press 6 min read

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – During his long career drawing legislative maps designed to help Republicans, Tom Hofeller preached about the dangers of leaving digital fingerprints.

As he advised in a 2011 presentation about redistricting strategies: “Make sure your computer is in a PRIVATE location,” and “Don’t walk away from it and leave your work exposed.”

But less than a year after his death, Hofeller’s own electronic records threatened to upend two major legal battles unfolding in the courts.

Opponents of the Trump administration’s plan to include a citizenship question on the 2020 U.S. census say records found on a hard drive in Hofeller’s home unmask partisan intent, including language nearly identical to the Justice Department’s justification for the question: aiding enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the rationale seemed contrived and sent the case back to a lower court in New York.

Hofeller’s records also prompted a new court filing in North Carolina redistricting litigation , suggesting Republicans lied about how long drawing new maps would take.