The Official 2020 Census Thread

[Tender Branson]

Other than the Citizenship question, there's also the fact that Millennials are extremely lazy people - which might contribute to an undercount as well:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/02/13/how-census-reach-urban-millennials-who-dont-use-mail-landlines/2861024002/

Democrats need to end their opposition to the Citizenship question and encourage (illegal) immigrants and Millennials to take part in the Census ... or they are doomed because of a bigger than usual undercount.

lmao free Amazon gift card. That seems so random.

How "busy" are their lives that they can't take ten minutes to fill out a form? If you can't spare at least that much time for an event that only takes place once every decade and is important to the country, then shame on you.

Yeah ... 10 minutes every 10 years.

How hard is that ? The CB needs to conduct a massive campaign of awareness ahead of the actual Census operation and maybe even take up the "free gift" idea to bring on board the young people to avoid a big undercount or failure. But that of course shouldn't be necessary, if the young people would have some sense of civic responsibility left ... and it would cost too much of course.

[Tender Branson]

Supreme Court agrees to rule quickly on citizenship question on census

You must be logged in to read this quote.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-agrees-quickly-rule-citizenship-question-census-n971561

[Tender Branson]

I'm sceptical.

The 2020 Census will be the first to allow every 250 million or so adult American to fill out their Census form online.

This will happen over a time span of 1 or 2 weeks in April 2020.

Do you remember when just a a few million people wanted to sign up for "Obamacare" at the same time and the servers crashed ?

So, what about 250 million Americans filling it out online at the same time ?

Well, not all of them will (about 60-75% will do so), but that's still a massive data load for just 2 weeks.

This has all the potential for disaster. Privacy not so much, because the Census Bureau has a very sophisticated method to avoid cyber attacks (and double or multiple entries).

On the other hand, the online component is certainly a good thing (especially for the lazy millennials).

What do you think ?

https://www.wired.com/story/us-census-2020-goes-digital

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/census-urban-millennials-genz_b_5c6445dde4b0368f7b6b4c17

[Tender Branson]

The Challenge of America's First Online Census:

https://www.wired.com/story/us-census-2020-goes-digital

[Tender Branson]

Exclusive: Fearful of fake news blitz, U.S. Census enlists help of tech giants

(Reuters) - The U.S. Census Bureau has asked tech giants Google, Facebook and Twitter to help it fend off “fake news” campaigns it fears could disrupt the upcoming 2020 count, according to Census officials and multiple sources briefed on the matter.

The push, the details of which have not been previously reported, follows warnings from data and cybersecurity experts dating back to 2016 that right-wing groups and foreign actors may borrow the “fake news” playbook from the last presidential election to dissuade immigrants from participating in the decennial count, the officials and sources told Reuters.

The sources, who asked not to be named, said evidence included increasing chatter on platforms like “4chan” by domestic and foreign networks keen to undermine the survey. The census, they said, is a powerful target because it shapes U.S. election districts and the allocation of more than $800 billion a year in federal spending.

Ron Jarmin, the Deputy Director of the Census Bureau, confirmed the bureau was anticipating disinformation campaigns, and was enlisting the help of big tech companies to fend off the threat.

“We expect that (the census) will be a target for those sorts of efforts in 2020,” he said.

Census Bureau officials have held multiple meetings with tech companies since 2017 to discuss ways they could help, including as recently as last week, Jarmin said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-census-fakenews-exclusive/exclusive-fearful-of-fake-news-blitz-us-census-enlists-help-of-tech-giants-idUSKCN1R812S

[Tender Branson]

The push, the details of which have not been previously reported, follows warnings from data and cybersecurity experts dating back to 2016 that right-wing groups and foreign actors may borrow the “fake news” playbook from the last presidential election to dissuade immigrants from participating in the decennial count, the officials and sources told Reuters.

I would also include certain leftist elements of the Democrats here, who want to discourage immigrants from taking part in the Census out of hatred for Trump and his plans to include a citizenship question (which of course would be totally legal and is included in a Census in most other countries) ...

[Tender Branson]

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/435598-abrams-launches-nonprofit-ahead-of-2020-census

https://thehill.com/latino/436369-telemundo-launches-initiative-for-latinos-to-participate-in-elections-census

Good.

Instead of fearmongering, Democrats should follow the example of Abrams and Telemundo and encourage all minorities and the young people to take part in the Census. This would help them in the 2020 general election as well.

[Tender Branson]

The tough job of Census taker:

https://youtu.be/fbI1eJ_zAB8

[Tender Branson]

Exactly 1 year to go to the reference date (actual Census activities start way earlier).

[Tender Branson]

Some really good news from the Census operations planning:

Census Bureau Optimistic About Filling Jobs for 2020 Count

Despite tight labor market, Bureau received 232,000 qualified applicants for first batch of 50,000 jobs.

WASHINGTON—The Census Bureau said Monday that hundreds of thousands of people have applied for jobs conducting the 2020 count, easing fears that the tight labor market will impede its success.

More than a half-million temporary workers will be needed for the decennial census, making it one of the country’s largest hiring efforts. Finding enough workers was easy for the 2010 count, when the aftermath of the 2007-09 recession sent a flood of applicants to the bureau.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/census-optimistic-about-filling-jobs-for-2020-count-11554150569

Census director: 2020 count ‘on schedule, on budget, on message’

Just days after officially wrapping up the results of its 2018 field test, the Census Bureau has shifted its focus to scaling up operations to count more than 300 million people living in the United States next year.

Al Fontenot, associate director for decennial programs at the Census Bureau, said field test respondents in Providence County, Rhode Island successfully navigated the internet response site. In addition, call center staff managed to respond to over-the-phone requests for help and handled requests to fill out the questionnaire in a language other than English.

“The big takeaway from the 2018 census test is that all of our systems deployed and integrated effectively in our test. Real people were able to effectively use the technology in real-world conditions,” Fontenot said Monday at a press conference at the National Press Club.

Starting mid-March next year, households across the country will receive invitations in the mail to respond to the 2020 census online. People living in areas with low internet connectivity or those deemed less likely to use the internet will receive a paper questionnaire in their first mailing from the bureau.

Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham said the new response options “create new efficiencies, relieve burdens and reassure people that assistance is but a phone call away.”

“We currently are working to ensure that all our systems can scale up and perform effectively to handle the load of work that we expect for the 2020 census,” he said.

Michael Thieme, the assistant director for decennial census programs, systems and contracts, speaking last Thursday at a Census Scientific Advisory Committee meeting, said he expects up to 120,000 concurrent users will respond to the census online at any time. However, the bureau has built its IT architecture to handle up to 600,000 concurrent users, even though it remains unclear if the site will ever encounter that volume of traffic.

The decennial team is also working with the Department of Homeland Security, as well as private sector tech companies, to build the “most state-of-the-art protections” against cyber intrusions.

Tech innovations also extend to census enumerators, who will carry iPhones loaded with a custom app that automates casework assignments and optimizes daily routes for them. These innovations, Fontenot said, have made field test enumerators more than 50 percent more productive compared to 2010.

“We couldn’t be more excited, the reason being that we are on mission, on schedule, on budget, on message and on course to complete the biggest and best census,” Dillingham said.

In August, the bureau will begin in-field address canvassing operations. Tim Olson, the associate director for field operations, said the bureau has already received more than 230,000 applications to fill 50,000 field jobs. Later this fall, the bureau will seek an additional 2.3 million applicants to fill more than 500,000 temporary enumeration jobs.

However, through partnerships with state, local and tribal governments, the bureau has verified more than 106 million addresses.

The bureau will conduct a review of every address for the 2020 count, but it will also rely on its new Block Assessment Research and Classification Application (BARCA), which compares satellite imagery from 2009 and the present to track and review addresses.

The bureau aims to hire more than 1,500 partnerships specialists — more than double the volume it hired in 2010 — to enlist more than 300,000 organizations to serve as census partners.

“Many of you represent the trusted voices you are uniquely positioned to share, and reinforce a concise yet vital message: that the 2020 census is easy, secure and important,” Dillingham said.

https://federalnewsnetwork.com/it-modernization-month-2018/2019/04/census-director-2020-count-on-schedule-on-budget-on-message

[Tender Branson]

With 1 year to go, the Census Bureau has released a first information ad:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXJz7ZfzAuM

“A year before the census is conducted, we are on track. We are confident that our early planning is going to pay off.”

— Steve Dillingham, director of the Census Bureau

https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2019/03/one-year-out-census-bureau-on-track-for-2020-census.html

[Tender Branson]

The online Census version will have 7 new languages nex year, for a total of 13:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/03/us/us-census-languages-trnd/index.html

Some 60-70% of those who respond will do so via Internet, so this is good news.

The paper census forms that are mailed out will still only offer English and Spanish.

[Tender Branson]

Confidentiality:

[Tender Branson]

The Supreme Court will hear arguments for and against the inclusion of the citizenship question tomorrow, starting at 10am:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-22/trump-s-census-citizenship-query-faces-test-in-high-court-clash

A ruling will come within 2 months and the Census forms will be printed then.

[Tender Branson]

The Supreme Court will hear arguments for and against the inclusion of the citizenship question tomorrow, starting at 10am:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-22/trump-s-census-citizenship-query-faces-test-in-high-court-clash

A ruling will come within 2 months and the Census forms will be printed then.

The SC is leaning in favour of allowing the Citizenship question, readying a 5-4 vote:

https://www.npr.org/2019/04/23/705210786/a-decade-of-implications-at-stake-supreme-court-hears-census-citizenship-questio?t=1556040650678

[Tender Branson]

NYT article came out. Seems conservative judges are united on this issue. Looking like the undemocratic and disgustingly racist citizenship question will be on the census after all. Yuck.

Non-citizens are not a „race“. Adding the question is legitimate of course.

[Tender Branson]

Democrats need to accept the ruling (if they indeed vote in favour), stop whining and encourage the non-citizens and their families to participate.

Everything else will hurt the Dems. There’s also a lot of misinformation out, for example that Census Data will be shared with ICE etc. which is absolutely not the case. Democrats therefore need to promote the confidentiality part among the non-citizens to remove the overblown fear among this group.

[Tender Branson]

Americans strongly favour the inclusion of the Citizenship Question, even Blacks and Latinos:

The Hill/HarrisX Poll: Majority of Americans Want Citizenship Question on the Census, Including Hispanics

6 in 10 registered voters, 60 percent, in a Hill-HarrisX survey released Tuesday said that the U.S. Census Bureau should ask the citizenship question. Another 21 percent said the question should not be included, while 19 percent were unsure.

Despite partisan differences, a majority of voters from all demographics included in the Hill-HarrisX survey said they believed the citizenship question should be included.

White voters overwhelmingly supported the question, with 65 percent in favor and 17 percent opposed. Black respondents favored asking about citizenship by a 53-19 percent margin.  Hispanic respondents supported it, 53-28 percent.

Link

[Tender Branson]

Americans strongly favour the inclusion of the Citizenship Question, even Blacks and Latinos:

The Hill/HarrisX Poll: Majority of Americans Want Citizenship Question on the Census, Including Hispanics

6 in 10 registered voters, 60 percent, in a Hill-HarrisX survey released Tuesday said that the U.S. Census Bureau should ask the citizenship question. Another 21 percent said the question should not be included, while 19 percent were unsure.

Despite partisan differences, a majority of voters from all demographics included in the Hill-HarrisX survey said they believed the citizenship question should be included.

White voters overwhelmingly supported the question, with 65 percent in favor and 17 percent opposed. Black respondents favored asking about citizenship by a 53-19 percent margin.  Hispanic respondents supported it, 53-28 percent.

Link

Well, being disadvantageous (and for Democrats it's surely is) doesn't automatically makes a question wrong...

It wouldn't be disadvantageous for the Democrats, if they would accept the ruling (if yes) and encourage their base and the illegals to take part in the Census.

[Tender Branson]

Reuters/Ipsos confirms that Americans support the citizenship question by a huge margin:

"Do you approve or disapprove of the Census asking about people's citizenship status ?"

67% approve
23% disapprove

"During the next Census, you may be asked about your citizenship status. What do you think is the primary reason this information is being collected ?"

30% This is a standard recordkeeping and reporting procedure
21% Improve counts of U.S. residents in every community
26% Help enforce US immigration laws and detain illegal immigrants
  8% Undercount immigrant communities

Link

A quarter of Americans are incredibly stupid, because confidentiality assures that no collected citizenship data is forwarded to ICE etc.

[Tender Branson]

A quarter of Americans are incredibly stupid, because confidentiality assures that no collected citizenship data is forwarded to ICE etc.

These people aren't stupid, and it's not productive to paint with a huge brush. It's a misinformed opinion, but the best thing to do is combat it, people dig in their heels if you attack them first.

I meant stupid in a way that they blindly believe the misinformation campaign of the Democrats and other very leftist groups.

And yes, this misinformation needs to be combated and especially the Dems should inform people to participate ...

[Tender Branson]

I'm going to have to side with the conservatives on this issue. The question has been asked before (granted its been 70 years but still) so what would be an issue with asking it again?

There is no issue.

Rs and Ds try to make something political out of the Census operation, but this is something where politics has no place.

Let's take a different look: If the US had a civil registration system like most European countries, every child born would be automatically registered by citizenship. So would every immigrant coming to the US or the status would be changed to US citizen when being naturalized. That's why the "Citizenship question" isn't even a topic here in European countries during a Census, because everything is already in the database.

The Democrats and extremely leftist interest groups claim that the Citizenship question would lead to a so-called "undercount", but at the same time the 2020 Census offers more opportunities to respond than ever before (online, phone, paper and backup visit by Census takers).

Of course there could be an "undercount" of the population, but that is mostly because Americans are getting lazier than ever before to respond to surveys (= see lower and lower response rates in political polls).

But the Census is a civic duty and as many people as possible should respond here, free from politics.

Therefore, the Democrats need to stop their misinformation campaign that is only alienating non-citizens from the civic process because they fear that their census data is forwarded to ICE for deportation (that is total bullsh*t of course).

[Tender Branson]

The question in and of itself isn’t the problem. The problem is the manner in which the question was included and what they plan to use said question for.

So, they are planning to use the citizenship data to re-district by citizenship ?

That may sound absurd to many on the Left, but is already practiced in countries such as Germany or Austria.

The number of seats allocated to states or districts for our parliaments is allocated by citizenship and not by the overall number of the population.

After all, voting is only granted to citizens in elections as well ...

You may find that absurd from a leftist point of view, but it would be consistent.

[Tender Branson]

CNN:

Decision by the Supreme Court on the citizenship question will come very soon.

www.cnn.com/2019/06/06/politics/census-supreme-court/index.html

Census forms will need to be printed in the next couple weeks, the advertising strategy has to start so that as many people possible take part in the operation and address updates have to be made in the fall. Therefore the ruling is critical.

[Tender Branson]

The Census Bureau has started their final field test on Thursday, which will run through August.

It will determine the effects of the citizenship question on the response rate.

For this, the Census Bureau has selected about 500.000 random households in the US who will get test forms by mail over the next weeks.

About 250.000 of them can fill out a form without the citizenship question, while the other control group of 250.000 households will get forms with the question.

JUNE 11, 2019 — The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that the 2019 Census Test will begin this week, as approximately 480,000 housing units across the country receive a questionnaire testing the operational effects of including a citizenship question on the 2020 Census. The 2019 Census Test will randomly assign households to two panels and ask them to respond to the 2020 Census questions. Panel A will include the question on citizenship, Panel B will not.  

Findings from the nationwide test will assist in determining updates to 2020 Census operations, such as how many census takers are needed to follow up with nonresponding households and how to better communicate with households about the 2020 Census.

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2019/2019-test-begins.html

https://www.npr.org/2019/06/13/731629018/as-legal-battle-persists-census-citizenship-question-is-put-to-the-test