The coronavirus is upending the Census -- and that could undermine democracy for a decade

"The risk of being undercounted disproportionately falls on communities of color," a letter from Democrats read


Igor Derysh
March 21, 2020 2:00PM UTI

Lawmakers and civil rights groups are warning that the novel coronavirus crisis could devastate minority communities for the next decade if the outbreak upends the 2020 census, which normally takes place in spring.

The Census Bureau announced on Wednesday that it will suspend its field operations for at least two weeks to protect the safety of workers and respondents. But medical experts say measures to control the spread of the virus will likely be required for much longer, leaving groups like the NAACP concerned that minority communities, which are already regularly undercounted, will be devastated even further if field workers are unable to go door-to-door.

The Census Bureau conducts a count of the United States population once every decade. The count helps determine how many congressional seats and Electoral College votes each state gets and determines how the federal government doles out trillions in spending.

The bureau sends out mailers asking people to submit forms online, by mail, or by phone, and then sends out an army of 500,000 field workers to go door-to-door to track down people that failed to respond. These field workers also distribute forms to unconventional addresses like those at many Native American reservations and in remote locations. They also perform a count of about half a million people in homeless shelters. Some of these workers were already in the field, though the operation does not fully ramp up until the end of May.

https://www.salon.com/2020/03/21/the-coronavirus-is-upending-the-census--and-that-could-undermine-democracy-for-a-decade/