A big “thank you” to Bill Cooper of Fairdata2000 for tipping the REP to this site.
Prisoners of the Census explores various problems resultant from the fact that “the Census Bureau counts prisoners as if they lived voluntarily in the communities where they are incarcerated.”

The site details how this practice distorts the 2000 census. Of particular interest is the documentation of the skewing of the count of the Black population. If you think the 2000 numbers for an area of interest seem off, you may be right. Take a look at the handy tool that allows you to ‘to see how the Census Bureau’s method of counting people in prisons skews your county’s demographics.’

The site also explores the effects of the Cenus’s method of counting prisoners on redistricting. The site reports, “The inaccurate census figures allow state lawmakers to pad district populations when drawing legislative maps. This creates prison districts with disproportionate voting power and drains political influence from the urban districts where most prisoners live.”