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U.S. NEWS Friday 20 November 2020
Anomalies found in data put census deadline in jeopardy

By MIKE SCHNEIDER the time originally planned. The Census Bureau said it
Associated Press The Census Bureau would would not comment fur-
The director of the Census not say Thursday what the ther.
Bureau said Thursday that anomalies were or publicly "This is not surprising to me
irregularities have been state if there would be a at all," said Robert San-
found during the numbers- new deadline for the ap- tos, president-elect of the
crunching phase of the portionment numbers. American Statistical Associ-
2020 census, a develop- "These types of processing ation, in an email. "The no-
ment that jeopardizes the anomalies have occurred tion that the 2020 Census
statistical agency's ability in past censuses," Census data could be processed
to meet a year-end dead- Bureau director Steven in half the time scheduled
line for handing in numbers Dillingham said in a state- given all the obstacles &
used for divvying up con- ment. "I am directing the challenges that Census Bu- U.S. Census Director Steven Dillingham departs a census news
gressional seats. Census Bureau to utilize all reau encountered defies conference to urge Arizonans to participate in the nation's once-
a-decade population count Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Phoenix.
The Census Bureau already resources available to re- logic." Associated Press
was facing a shortened solve this as expeditiously Missing the Dec. 31 dead- forts to exclude people in every U.S. resident from the
schedule of two and a half as possible. As it has been line for turning in the ap- the country illegally from end of July to the end of
months for processing the all along, our goal remains portionment numbers being counted in the num- October. It also extended
data collected during the an accurate and statisti- would be a blow to Presi- bers used to determine the deadline for turning in
2020 census — about half cally sound Census." dent Donald Trump's ef- how many congressional the apportionment num-
seats each state gets and bers from the end of De-
EXPLAINER: How does election how $1.5 trillion in federal cember to the end of next
April, giving bureau statisti-
spending is distributed.
certification usually work? Once the president re- cians five months to crunch
ceives the numbers by the the numbers.
By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Dec. 31 deadline, the presi- However in late July and
Associated Press dent has about a week or early August, officials at the
In normal times, the certi- so from the start of the next Commerce Department,
fication of election results Congress to transmit them which oversees the Census
is a routine process that to the House. If the Census Bureau, announced field
doesn't get much atten- Bureau delays turning in the operations would finish
tion. But these are not nor- apportionment numbers at the end of September
mal times. because of the process- and the apportionment
As part of an ongoing series ing problems, that transfer numbers would stick to a
of attacks on the integrity of the numbers could take congressionally-mandated
of the election, President In this Nov. 17, 2020, file photo, Wayne County Board of place after President-elect deadline of Dec. 31.
Donald Trump and his Re- Canvassers Chair Monica Palmer, left, talks with Vice Chair Joe Biden takes office. A coalition of local gov-
publican allies are trying Jonathan Kinloch before the board's meeting in Detroit. Trump's apportionment ernments and advocacy
to stop the formal certifi- Associated Press order has been found un- groups sued, claiming a
cation of results in some before sending them to voter records in the majori- lawful by three courts — in shortened schedule would
of the states where he lost the state for final certifica- ty-Black city of Detroit. New York, California and shortchange minorities and
— mostly by making unsub- tion. That's usually done by But a Democrat on the Maryland. The Justice De- hard-to-count communi-
stantiated claims of fraud. a state canvassing board, board noted the issues partment has appealed to ties. Their lawsuit also said
While most of their legal the secretary of state or a were the result of routine the Supreme Court, which the schedule was short-
claims have failed, a high- small group that might in- "human error," and the is hearing arguments at the ened to make sure the
profile incident in Michi- clude the governor and Republican's claim drew end of the month. numbers-crunching took
gan's largest county this other state officials. complaints of racism from Because of the pandem- place on the Trump ad-
week shows how easily From there, federal law Democrats and election ic, the Census Bureau ministration's watch so that
the process can get side- requires governors to pre- experts who also noted switched its deadline for the president's order on
tracked. pare official certificates to there has been no sign of wrapping up the once-a- apportionment could be
HOW DOES IT USUALLY report the popular vote in widespread voting fraud in decade head count of enforced.q
WORK? their states. These docu- Michigan or elsewhere.
After an election, local of- ments are often signed by And the results weren't
ficials count ballots, review the governors and must even close: President-elect
the tallies to make sure they carry the seal of the state. Joe Biden beat Trump in
match the votes cast, and A copy is sent to the archi- Wayne County by a more
check that people who vist of the United States. than 2-to-1 margin and
cast provisional ballots be- WHAT HAPPENED THIS TIME? won Michigan by 146,000
cause of some problem at In an extraordinary move votes, according to unoffi-
the polls did so legally. Tuesday night, two Re- cial results.
The local elections office publican members on SO, WHAT'S THE DAMAGE?
then sends the final results Michigan's Wayne County Even though the Wayne
to a board for certification. Board of Canvassers vot- County votes were certi-
Such boards are typically ed against certifying of fied in the end, the incident
bipartisan, their members the county's votes — then is likely to cast more doubt
either elected or appoint- abruptly reversed course about the election's legiti-
ed by county leaders. Bar- amid heavy criticism. macy among Trump's sup-
ring an obvious problem Explaining the initial vote, a porters. It also could help
with the count that could Republican member of the galvanize Republicans
change the result of the Wayne County board said elsewhere to look for ways
election, the board then the number of absentee to delay making Biden's
approves the vote tallies ballots cast did not match victory official.q