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A2 UP FRONT
Friday 20 May 2022
In 2 states, 1 in 20 residents missed during US head count

From Front panics, immigrants and
others.
By MIKE SCHNEIDER Arturo Vargas, CEO of NA-
Associated Press LEO Educational Fund,
Around 1 in 20 residents said there was a “desper-
in Arkansas and Tennes- ate need” for information
see were missed during about undercounts and
the 2020 census, and four overcounts of racial and
other U.S. states had signifi- ethnic groups at geogra-
cant undercounts of their phies smaller than states,
populations which could especially in places like
short-change them of fed- Texas where the under-
eral funding in the current count most likely was in the
decade, according to fig- Hispanic population.
ures from a survey the U.S. Given the inaccuracies in
Census Bureau released the count, there is a real risk
Thursday. of an unfair distribution of
In Florida, and Texas, un- congressional seats among
dercounts appear to have the states, he said.
cost them congressional “Without knowing below
seats too. the state level, we aren’t
On the flip side, residents able to understand the ex-
in eight states were over- tent of that error,” Vargas
counted during the once- said.
a-decade head count that It was a different story for
is used to allocate political states where residents were
power and federal funding. overcounted, like Minneso-
In Minnesota and Rhode Is- ta and Rhode Island. Min-
land, overcounts appear to Residents have begun receiving the U.S. Census Bureau's request for information receiving letters nesota was allocated the
with a census identification number to answer questions about their households online.
have saved them from los- Associated Press 435th and final congres-
ing congressional seats. sional seat in the House of
In the remaining 36 states They also are now better ing. The Census Bureau has in which most participants Representatives; if Minne-
and the District of Colum- positioned for the annual set up a team to explore were encouraged to fill out sota had counted 26 fewer
bia, the overcounts and distribution of $1.5 trillion in this. the form online. people, that seat would
undercounts were not sta- federal funding in the com- Arkansas, Tennessee, Missis- “Get-out-the-count ef- have gone to New York.
tistically significant. Under- ing decade. sippi and Illinois respective- forts can make a big dif- Minnesota’s 3.8% over-
counts signal people were Nothing can be done at ly had undercounts of 5%, ference, even when your count amounted to around
missed. Overcounts sug- this point to change how 4.8%, 4.1% and 1.9%, while community has poor inter- 219,000 residents.
gest they were counted many congressional seats Florida and Texas respec- net access and is less likely Other states with over-
more than once, as for are allocated among the tively had undercounts of to answer the census,” said counts were Hawaii, at al-
example, children of di- states, and neither can the almost 3.5% and 1.9%. Plyer, chief demographer most 6.8%; Delaware, at
vorced parents who share data used for redrawing Arkansas, Florida, Tennes- of The Data Center in New 5.4%; New York, at 3.4%;
custody or people with va- congressional districts be see and Texas did not di- Orleans. Utah, at almost 2.6%; Mas-
cation homes. adjusted. rect as many resources as “Where states prioritized, sachusetts, at 2.2%; and
The figures released Thurs- Thursday’s release did not other states in encourag- get-out-the-count, it looks Ohio, at almost 1.5%.
day from the Post-Enumer- break down by demo- ing residents to fill out cen- like it made a difference.” In Rhode Island, the 5%
ation Survey serve as a re- graphic traits how good a sus forms. Mississippi spent Florida’s undercount trans- overcount translates into
port card on how well resi- job the 2020 census did at around $400,000 and Illi- lates into around 750,600 more than 55,000 residents.
dents in the 50 states and the state level, but a na- nois allocated $29 million missed residents, and an It would have lost a seat if
District of Columbia were tional report card released toward those efforts. His- analysis by Election Data 19,000 fewer residents had
counted during a census in March showed signifi- torically, groups that have Services shows the Sunshine been counted, according
that faced unprecedented cant undercounts for the undercounts are racial and State needed only around to Election Data Services.
obstacles from a pandem- Black and Hispanic popu- ethnic minorities, renters 171,500 more residents to John Marion, executive di-
ic, hurricanes and wildfires, lations, as well as for those and young children. gain an extra seat. The rector of the government
social unrest and political identifying as some other In a statement, Arkansas undercount in Texas trans- watchdog group Common
interference by the Trump race and American Indians Gov. Asa Hutchison said he lates into around 560,000 Cause Rhode Island, said it
administration. and Native Alaskans living was interested in getting residents, while the Elec- was difficult to pinpoint ex-
The survey re-interviews a on reservations. more details on his state’s tion Data Services analysis actly why Rhode Island had
sample of residents and Academics and civil rights undercount, especially put Texas as needing only such a large overcount.
compares those results to leaders are pressing the since Arkansas grew by 189,000 more residents to There were significant out-
the census to see “what Census Bureau to tweak more than 95,000 residents gain another congressional reach efforts and the state
we did right and what we yearly population estimates over the decade and sur- seat. has a large summer home
did wrong,” said Census that traditionally have used passed 3 million residents Hispanics make up more population, but the same
Bureau official Timothy Ken- census numbers as their for the first time. than a quarter of Florida’s applied to other states, he
nel. foundation and incorpo- Demographer Allison Plyer population and almost 40% said.
States that did a better job rate other data sources to also observed that Arkan- of Texas residents, and crit- “We’re essentially the lucky
of getting residents count- produce a more accurate sas, Mississippi and Tennes- ics say the Trump admin- beneficiary of a statistical
ed scored greater Electoral portrait of the undercount- see have among the high- istration’s failed efforts to anomaly,” Marion said.
College and congressional ed racial and ethnic com- est rates of households with- add a citizenship question “And as a result, we’ll have
representation, or did not munities for the numbers out a computer or internet to the census form may more representation in
lose expected seats in the that help determine the subscription. The 2020 cen- have had a chilling effect Congress for 10 years.”q
House of Representatives. distribution of federal fund- sus was the first head count on the participation of His-