The United States census is a count of every living person in the US and its territories, and is used to determine the number of seats each state will have in the House of Representatives, as well as drawing the congressional and state legislative districts. It's mandated by the Constitution, being an example of one of the federal government's powers.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year's census was originally planned to end months later than usual, with the official counting set to end on October 31st and the final deadline on December 31st. However, this schedule has now been shortened to end on September 30th, in order to allow more time for the processing of the data before the final deadline at the end of the year. This decision was not made by the Census Bureau, the government agency that conducts the census every decade. Rather, it was likely caused by a directive issued by President Trump that would exclude undocumented immigrants from being counted in the census, which was blocked by a judicial panel.
According to recent reports, before the decision was made, the Census Bureau cautioned against the shortening of the timeline, with an internal document stating that the quality of the result would be "unacceptable for a Constitutionally-mandated national activity." Additionally, the document warned that this move could cause the census results to be viewed with skepticism, due to the abrupt reversal from advocating for an extended timeline to the sudden decision to shorten it.
The scientific advisory committee to the Bureau wrote in their recommendations that "When the weather isn't right, we postpone the launching of rockets into space," and that "the same should be true of the decennial enumeration..." Currently, some people are trying to do just that, with federal judges hearing lawsuits aiming to re-extend the census to its original date of the end of October. Is it right for the administration to shorten the census, even if it could affect the accuracy of the results, which are vital for determining the House of Representatives and congressional districts?
Source 2: ABC News
Source 3: The Guardian
Census Bureau Document
7 comments:
I think that ending the census early risks the chance of obtaining accurate information. This abrupt cutoff will result in lack of accurate information, since many households will not complete the census by this new deadline. This will flaw the quality of the census. And in this link here, it conveys how this new deadline will affect the numbers that are collected once a decade to determine each state's share of congressional seats. This is due to the fact that the time constraint will boost the risk of leaving out many poc, immigrants, and historically undercounted groups from this decade’s information. I don't think the census should be cut off, as Liam stated, the census is vital for determining the House of Representatives and congressional district, and it is needed for the information to be as accurate as it could be, and limiting the time for completion will conflict that.
I don't believe ending the census prematurely is beneficial at all. The census is important for not only for stage legislatures and accounting for seats in Congress, but it also impacts smaller communities. Immigrant families, the homeless, and more are all at risk if their numbers are not accurately accounted for, and if there is not a relatively good estimate of the numbers in a certain region, funding for programs in certain locations might not be correctly allocated. There are too many implications and not as many pros to ending the census early.
I think that trump simply wants to end the census early before it could heart the republican party and possible his changes in the election. Trump knows that the more immigrants, either legal or illegal can help the democrats gain more power. I believe the ending of the census is simply part of the political game in order to keep the republicans in power.
I don't think this will have a significant effect on the data. I have been hearing so many ads on the radio encouraging me to register for the Census. These ads have been going on for months. I think if anyone hasn't yet registered, they likely never will. However, regardless of this, I disagree with the idea. Something as important as the Census should not be tampered with by a president. This was probably just because Trump wants to have control over the counting of the votes. Can someone explain to me the effect this has on illegal immigrants and homeless people? Why can't they just register before the deadline, it's still over a month away.
The census is very powerful in that it helps determine where billions of dollars will ultimately be located. During coronavirus times it is very important that this money be spent correctly and thus shortening the census, leading to potentially inaccurate results, will only end up in the misuse of funs throughout States and cities. Shortening the census leaves for the possibility of leaving out many poorer minority groups like immigrants who actually need much of the money during these touch times. Beyond funding though, the census helps determine changes in the legislative body more precisely the House of Representatives. Based on the population of states, the census helps determines how many seats each states get in the house As we have studied about in class of representation it is important for the census to remain accurate in order to ensure that proportional amounts of representation are maintained throughout the states. Thus, in my opinion, it is very important that the census be kept accurate even if that means extending the deadline.
It's very important that every person is accounted for in the U.S. census, both for having a more accurate representation within the House of Representatives and for knowing how many and what kinds of people live in our country. It is extremely important that we know the different demographics of our citizens in order to understand ourselves better. Cutting back the deadline of election results doesn't give people who were planning on turning their census' in later enough time to do so. Although this issue is said to target democrats, it will also hurt the republican census - just less. This is because the House of Representatives has more democratic representation. Because population grows exponentially, they will gain a greater lead in the house compared to republican states. However, a decreased total number of people will decrease this amount, making votes within the House seem closer than they actually may be. Going back to the idea of just knowing our own demographics, not knowing our own demographics may hurt in calculating things such as unemployment rates and government grants, which can hurt not only democrat-led states, but republican ones too. It's extremely important that once a deadline is released, it is only ever extended - never reduced to an earlier date.
The census decision is definitely one that will impact legislation and representation in government for years to come. While the initial choice to continue with the census amid the pandemic was definitely a risky and unsafe decision, disregarding any health concerns or preoccupations that could lead to many groups not getting counted. The Trump administration is fully aware of the impact the census has on allocating funds, taxing and other legislation that depends on the socioeconomic background of these different groups, yet their decision consciously continue with and reduce the amount of time that census workers collected data will lead to complete misrepresentation for future years. Additionally in California, with the wildfires plaguing the very air we breath, many census workers have been affected, as the government has not only impacted the demographic representation, but has put workers at risk, further damaging any ability to properly depict the racial and economic diversity in California, as well as the rest of the states.
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