The 2020 Census:
Nonpartisan Data & Civic
Engagement for Democracy

Funders and nonprofits can play a critical role in ensuring a fair and accurate count of immigrant and low-income communities in the 2020 Census.

Changes made to the 2020 Census, due to budget cuts by Congress, will directly affect representation in Congress and electoral college votes, compliance with federal civil rights laws, and the annual federal distribution of $700 billion to states, cities, and vital human services programs for a decade from 2020 to 2030.

Download report: "7 Things to Do to Reduce the Likelihood of Undercount in Census 2020"

"High Risk"

The GAO has rated the 2020 Census as "high-risk." The Census could result in a large undercount of low-income, underserved, and minority households. This is likely due to several reasons:

Address Canvassing: The budget for address canvassing is reduced.
Online Survey: Instead of traditional mail-in surveys, the 2020 Census will rely on an online survey. 1
Fewer Census Enumerators: Instead of Census takers making multiple efforts to visit unresponsive households, the 2020 Census will reduce Census taker visits by half.
Quality Enumerators: The labor market, if it is as good as it is currently, will make it harder for the government to recruit enough quality Census takers within their budget. 2
Limited budget for advertising, partnerships, and language assistance.
Hostile political climate: Immigrants and minorities are fearful of providing data, such as race and address, in this political climate to the federal government.

Democracy

Impact of the Census Count on Democracy

As directed by the Constitution, the 435 seats in the House of Representatives are apportioned among the states on the basis of the Census count.
The Census count determines the electoral college with the number of electors each state receives for presidential elections.
States and localities redraw legislative boundaries that comply with standards for population equity ("one person, one vote") and racial and ethnic balance (Voting Rights Act, Sections 2 and 5).

Civil Rights Enforcement

Impact on Civil Rights Enforcement

Census data provide key benchmarks for federal monitoring and enforcement of civil rights and antidiscrimination laws in voting, employment, housing, lending, and education.

Annual Distribution of Billions

Impact on Annual Distribution of Billions in Funds to Cities, States, Schools, Public Health, Veterans, and Other Issues

Census data guide the flow of $700 billion annually in federal domestic assistance across the nation.
Federal agencies use Census data to inform the design, implementation, and evaluation of programs and policies in every government realm, such as education, health, housing, transportation, small business development, human services, and environmental protection.
State and local governments rely on Census data to make decisions on the annual distribution of hundreds of billions of dollars for critical services.

Trusted Nonprofits Are Needed

Reassure immigrants and minorities that it’s safe
Trusted nonprofits can reassure immigrants and minorities that their answers to the Census survey are confidential, will only be used for statistics, and never be shared with any other government departments.

Encourage community to apply to be enumerators
Help community members to get hired as enumerators. Enumerators who go door to door should match the demographics and speak the language of the community members.

Educate, motivate, & activate
Immigrants and low-income people are often not familiar with the purpose or uses of the Census. Under-reporting of low-income people, especially children, is well-documented. In addition, in the current political climate, many immigrants are fearful of the government.

Help people take the online survey
Nonprofits can help low-income people who face technology barriers to filling out the Census online. They can provide computers, help with filling out the form, and language translation.

Community Connect mobile text message survey

Interested in learning how you can ensure a fair and accurate census?

What's New

LUCA Community Address Canvassing Guide

The toolkit gives an overview and concrete steps for cities to follow, and it is illustrated by the case study of the LUCA pilot experience:
https://citiesofservice.org/resource/citizen-sourced-data-city

Media

“Some Fresnans live in garages, sheds and trailers. They don't get counted in the census” by Fresno Bee.
Published on March 9, 2018

“Effort under way for accurate 2020 Census count in San Jose” by KTVU.

Published on March 8, 2018

“Extra Doorbells, Satellite Dishes: How Cities Search for People the Census May Miss” by The New York Times
Published on February 22, 2018

“120 Day Deadline How Local Governments Can Conduct Community Based Address Canvassing to Ensure Low” Webinar by CommunityConnect Labs.
Published on April 1, 2018

The 2020 Census:Nonpartisan Data & Civic Engagement for Democracy