A leaked internal document from the U.S. Census Bureau warned the agency’s new deadline for collecting responses could sabotage the accuracy of the decennial count and lead to “serious errors.”
Last month the Census Bureau, at the direction of President Trump, moved up the census response collection deadline an entire month earlier. The leaked document warns this last-minute change could lead to less accurate results. The truncated deadline also has the potential to significantly harm historically undercounted and underfunded communities.
Every State, Every Vote Co-Chair Oregon Gov. Kate Brown released the following statement in response to the leaked Census Bureau report:
“The leaked Census Bureau report makes it clear the Trump administration knows exactly what it is doing by shortening the census response collection deadline.
“Moving the census deadline up will undermine the integrity of the count and disproportionately impact communities of color, rural, immigrant, refugee, and tribal communities. It could diminish their representation in legislative bodies, result in decreased funding for schools, health care, and infrastructure, and cause irreparable harm to these communities. The 2020 census is critical to the democratic foundation of this country and attempts to erode it are attempts to crack apart the bedrock of American values. This outrageous abuse of power will have dangerous and drastic effects that will be felt long after Trump is voted out of office.
“We need to ensure a fair, accurate, complete count. Every State, Every Vote remains committed to making sure that every American is counted and represented in the 2020 census.”
Read more about how Democratic governors are fighting for an accurate census count and fair representation for every community at EveryStateEveryVote.com.
