A profile of Americans who won't fill out Census forms

For months, the Pew Research Center has been conducting surveys to identify who will — and won't — fill out their Census forms this year. Now, a week after the forms were due, here is a demographic profile of the people most likely to resist filling out Census forms.

WHO IS LEAST LIKELY TO FILL OUT THE CENSUS?
People under the age of 30	who never attended college.	They're very likely to be Caucasians	who consider themselves political independents.

Political Blog graphic by Richard S. Dunham

Posted By: Richard Dunham (Email) | April 08 2010 at 06:40 AM

GOP sends out 'census' forms; Democrats, Latino groups cry foul

Chronicle photo An envelope sent to one voter. The recipient's name has been erased.

A national Republican fundraising campaign that invokes the word "census" and claims to be an "official document" is raising the blood pressure of Democrats and Latino advocacy groups.

Critics say the mailing is designed to confuse people and garner responses from individuals who think they're participating in the decennial Census, which begins in March for most of the nation.

The mailing, with its letter from Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, questionnaire on political attitudes, and plea for donations, is emblazoned with the phrase "2010 Congressional District Census."

The envelope is marked with the words, "Do Not Destroy, Official Document."

Democrats say they're disgusted but unsurprised by the mailing, a version of which was circulated before the last Census, in 2000.

"These deceitful tactics are nothing new from Republicans," Democratic National Committee spokesman Ricardo Ramirez said. "Misleading our communities on the Census is a new low, but it is not surprising."

The GOP letter includes a "census tracking code." And Steele invokes the word census in his questionnaire/fund-raising appeal.

"Strengthening our Party for the 2010 elections is going to take a massive grass-roots effort all across America," Steele writes. "That is why I have authorized a Census to be conducted of every Congressional District in the country."

Republicans say the mailing was not designed to be misleading.

"The document clearly indicates that it is an RNC mailer," RNC spokeswoman Sara Sendek said. "The purpose of this document is to gather Republican opinion from across the country and raise a little money."

Census Bureau officials have remained tight-lipped about the affair. Census Bureau spokesman Michael Cook pointed out that the timing and the content of the Republicans' mailing differs from the actual Census questionnaire, which won't arrive in most homes until March and only has 10 questions.

"People are going to know when they get the Census form what it is," Cook said.

Postal officials agree; when the representatives who head the House subcommittee that oversees the Census submitted a complaint about the letter to the postmaster last year, the response was that the source of the letter was labeled clearly enough.

But other organizations that have been working to educate historically undercounted groups about the upcoming Census worry that the mailing could result in mix-ups among people who aren't familiar with the format of the official Census.

"It could have the effect of confusing people who get it," Clarissa Martinez of the National Council of La Raza said. "It says it's an official document."

La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy group, has been conducting an informational campaign in an attempt to get the nation's entire Hispanic population to be counted in the Census.

Martinez said that in the wake of the Republican mailing, the national office of La Raza will be getting in touch with local partners to make sure their constituents know that they need to fill out the form they receive in March, even if they've already received the Republican mailing.

Posted By: Richard Dunham (Email) | January 31 2010 at 12:00 AM

Political battle brewing over census 10-year head count

Last week's dustup over the withdrawal of Commerce Secretary-designate Judd Gregg focused a flashlight (if not a spotlight) on the U.S. Census Bureau and the potential for politicizing the nation's decennial headcount.

Minority groups, that have been undercounted in the past, were afraid that Gregg, a Republican who once objected to special funding for the Census Bureau, would undercount them. Gregg was miffed when Obama, to reassure black and Latino groups, indicated he would increase White House oversight of the census.

Behind the partisan wrangling are important questions about how to guarantee an accurate population count and keep data collection and statistics clear of politics... if such a thing is even possible.

The census provides a lot of descriptive data about the demographic and socio-economic state of the U.S. population, but its primary function is to provide a population count which is used to draw congressional districts and other political boundaries. Places with more people stand to win increased political representation and federal funding.

As 2010 approaches, the questions brewing include: Who will control the count? Who will be appointed Census Director, and when? How much funding will the Census Bureau have to work with? And how will the count be conducted -- will sampling or adjustments be made to account for people the enumerators miss?

The Census Project, a consortium of groups that includes everyone from the American Statistical Association and the Federal Highway Administration to the Japanese American Citizens League and the U.S. Conference of Mayors, celebrated the inclusion of $1 billion for the census in the just-approved stimulus package.

Posted By: Tyche Hendricks (Email) | February 17 2009 at 04:42 PM