Working with unassigned geographies

Use the Find Unassigned Geographies tool to navigate to unassigned geographies in your redistricting plan. You might find the Find Unassigned Geographies tool useful to zoom to the unassigned geographies that are difficult to locate.

Unassigned geographies can be assigned using the One Stage, Two Stage, or Encircling assignment methods. When an unassigned geography is fully surrounded by one district, the process of encircling allows you to assign the unassigned geography to that district.

In this section. you will learn how to:

• Navigate unassigned geographies
• Sort unassigned geographies
• Assign unassigned geographies to encircling
• Refresh the list of unassigned geographies

Navigating unassigned geographies

In the Unassigned Geography dialog box, you can zoom to the unassigned geography by clicking on either the FIPS code or the Total population. The map zooms to the extent of the unassigned geography and the geography is highlighted on the map.

Steps:

1. On the Create ribbon, click Find Unassigned Geographies .

   The Unassigned Geographies dialog box appears. The Unassigned Geographies dialog box displays all unassigned geographies by FIPS code. You can also see a total count of the unassigned geographies.

2. Click an FIPS code or Total population row.

   The map zooms to the extent of the unassigned geography. The unassigned geography is highlighted on the map. You can use the One Stage, Two Stage, or Encircling assignment methods to assign the geography to a district.

   See One Stage geography assignment, Two Stage geography assignment, or Assigning unassigned geographies to encircling for more information.

Sorting unassigned geographies

Unassigned geographies can be sorted using FIPS or the total population in the geography. You might find sorting unassigned geographies helpful to make district assignments that meet target population counts.

Steps:

1. On the Create ribbon, click Find Unassigned Geographies .

   The Unassigned Geographies dialog box appears. The Unassigned Geographies dialog box displays all unassigned geographies by FIPS code. You can also see a total count of the unassigned geographies.

2. Click the column you want to sort:
   • FIPS allows you to sort by FIPS code.
   • Total allows you to sort by the total population in the selected geography.

Assigning unassigned geographies to encircling

When an unassigned geography is fully surrounded by one district, the process of encircling allows you to assign the unassigned geography to that district. The Assign to Encircling button is only enabled when the unassigned geography is fully surrounded by one district. If the unassigned geography borders two or more districts, the Assign to Encircling button is disabled.

Steps:

1. On the Create ribbon, click Find Unassigned Geographies .

   The Unassigned Geographies dialog box appears. The Unassigned Geographies dialog box displays all unassigned geographies by FIPS code. You can also see a total count of the unassigned geographies.

2. Click an FIPS code or Total population row.

   The map zooms to the extent of the unassigned geography. The unassigned geography is highlighted on the map. You can use the One Stage, Two Stage, or Encircling assignment methods to assign the geography to a district.

   See One Stage geography assignment or Two Stage geography assignment for more information.

3. Click Assign to Encircling.
   Note:

   The Assign to Encircling button is only enabled when the unassigned geography is fully surrounded by one district. If the unassigned geography borders two or more districts, the Assign to Encircling button is disabled.

   The unassigned geography is assigned to the surrounding district.

Refreshing unassigned geographies

As you navigate through the list of unassigned geographies and make assignments, the list of unassigned geographies may change. Use the Refresh button to update the list of unassigned geographies.

Steps:

1. On the Unassigned Geography dialog box, click Refresh.

   The list of unassigned geographies updates to reflect the current state of the application. The count displayed on the Unassigned Geography dialog box shows the number of unassigned geographies in your redistricting plan.