Page 2 - AT
P. 2
A2 UP FRONT
Wednesday 28 august 2019
Continued from Previous Page time operation the federal ocrats. The Republican
Beginning early next year, government undertakes. administration argued that
residents from Barrow, The Census Bureau hires a the question would have
Alaska, to Key West, Flori- half million workers, opens helped enforce the Vot-
da, will be quizzed on their around 250 offices and ing Rights Act, a rationale
sex, age, race, the type of mails out a multitude of that seemed "contrived" to
home they have and how forms in English and 12 oth- Chief Justice John Roberts
they are related to every- er languages to more than in his majority opinion.
one living with them. 130 million households. President Donald Trump
At stake is the balance of "The kind of scale we're later said the question was
political power in a deep- talking about to count this needed to help draw con-
ly divided country, billions nation is massive, massive, gressional districts, even
of dollars a year in federal massive," Democratic Rep. though the Constitution
funding and population Darren Soto of Florida said mandates districts based
data that will shape busi- recently. on total population, not the In this Aug. 22, 2019, photo, people walk through New York's
ness decisions nationwide A census has taken place number of citizens. Times Square.
for years to come. in the U.S. every decade After the administration Associated Press
Costing as much as $15.6 since 1790, and conten- abandoned the question,
billion, the once-a-decade tious legal fights about it are Trump directed federal Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, questionnaires in the mail.
census not only captures nothing new. But the Trump agencies to compile the Pennsylvania, Rhode Island If all those methods fail,
the United States at a giv- administration's attempt to information in other ways. and West Virginia are ex- the bureau will send out
en moment — in this case add the citizenship ques- That ensured the contro- pected to lose one apiece. "enumerators" to knock on
April 1, 2020, officially. But tion triggered lawsuits that versy would continue and California and Minnesota doors.
it is perhaps the only thing carried the issue all the way raised the possibility that it could also lose seats, but The agency intends to
every U.S. household is le- to the Supreme Court. still might affect the count. if the citizenship question spread the word about its
gally required to partici- Opponents of the question Census Bureau Director had been included, ex- "internet first" approach.
pate in regardless of who said it would have discour- Steven Dillingham, a Trump perts projected smaller Census officials envision
lives there. aged participation by mi- appointee, acknowledged gains in Florida, Texas and clergy asking churchgoers
Counting some 330 million norities, primarily Hispanics, the challenge but vowed Arizona and a more likely to take out their cellphones
heads is the largest peace- who tend to support Dem- to conduct "the best cen- loss in California. to answer questions before
sus ever, one that is com- The count is also used to services and announcers
plete and accurate." map districts for state leg- nudging fans at baseball
Adriana Ibarra, a 43-year- islatures, city councils and games.
old doctoral student from school boards, and to de- Leaders of some minority
Mexico living in Memphis termine the flow of federal groups worry that the reli-
under a temporary visa, money to state and lo- ance on the internet risks
said the chilling effect lin- cal governments. George undercounting people less
gers. She said immigrants Washington University's An- likely to be online: low-in-
who are in the country il- drew Reamer estimated come households, immi-
legally and others may shy that as much as $900 billion grants and elderly and rural
away because they do not a year in federal funding is residents. Other historically
feel included in decisions tied to the census in some undercounted groups in-
made in their communities way. clude Native Americans,
anyway. Reamer calculates that renters and people whose
"There's a feeling that their each person missed in primary language isn't
voice, their vote, their pres- the census would cost a English. Owners of multiple
ence does not substantially state an average of nearly homes are among the
affect the situation or the $1,100 a year under five most likely to be double-
course the country is tak- Department of Health and counted.
ing," she said. Human Services programs, Some experts say the on-
The census determines including Medicaid. The line approach should have
which states gain congres- impact would be biggest been tested more. The only
sional seats and which lose in Vermont, at $2,300, and end-to-end test was done
them. Election Data Servic- smallest in Utah, at roughly in Providence, Rhode Is-
es, a firm that consults on $500. land, last year after two
redistricting, estimates that For the first time, the Census other tests were scaled
Texas could gain as many Bureau is relying in 2020 on back to save money. The
as three seats and Florida most respondents answer- rate of people responding
two. Arizona, Colorado, ing questions via computer, on their own was higher
Montana, North Carolina tablet or smartphone. Re- than expected at 52.3 per-
and Oregon could add spondents can also call a cent, but the bureau is aim-
one each. phone number to give their ing for 60.5 percent in 2020.
New York is expected to answers. Those who don't Cybersecurity worries also
lose two seats. Alabama, respond will receive paper persist. q