The 2020 Census Is Being ‘Sabotaged,’ Says Leading U.S. Statistician
As the U.S. Supreme Court allows the census to end early, the president-elect of the American Statistical Association says he expects a drastic undercount.
Census 2020 employees help a New Yorker fill out a census form at Sylvia's Restaurant in Harlem. A host of setbacks in this year’s census count could result in a severe undercount of hard-to-reach populations, experts warn.
Photographer: Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
Every ten years, as the U.S. Census Bureau completes its constitutionally mandated count of the population of the U.S., it faces new obstacles. But the 2020 census has weathered some extraordinary blows, from challenges rolling out new technology to political machinations over the questionnaire itself.
The coronavirus pandemic forced the Census Bureau to extend the window for going door-to-door to count households that had not yet responded. Instead of wrapping up operations in July, the Census Bureau — with the support of the White House — set a deadline of Oct. 31. The agency also asked Congress to move the date for submitting the final count from December to April 2021.