Some worried about dueling deadlines
While two branches of the federal government — the executive branch and the courts — battle over competing deadlines for the end of the 2020 census, advocates for the once-adecade population tally in Tuolumne and Calaveras counties are urging people to get themselves counted now.
Workers coast-to-coast who are counting everyone in the entire United States were scheduled to stop collecting data by Sept. 30, but a federal judge in San Jose ruled a week ago to extend counting the nation’s population until Oct. 31.
Then on Monday, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said the 2020 census will end on Monday despite the judge’s ruling last week, and communications staff for the U.S. Census Bureau tweeted Ross’ announcement.
It’s confusing and uncertain, which is why some census advocates in the Mother Lode are urging people to not delay taking part in the census.
“As litigation about the census deadline continues, the official end of the census count remains uncertain and we will continue to closely monitor the developments,” Kristy Moore, communications manager for Amador-tuolumne Community Action Agency and a spokesperson for Tuolumne County Counts, said Thursday.
What is most important is that Tuolumne County residents should not wait if they have not yet been counted, Moore said.
A toll-free phone line, (844) 330-2020, and the Census2020.gov website will remain open at least through Monday, Moore said.
“We have no confirma
tion the census deadline will extend through Oct. 31 as ordered last week,” Moore said. “If you have questions or need help to complete your census, call Tuolumne County’s Census Helpline at 209-2686962 or visit the website at tccounts.org.”
As of Thursday afternoon, Moore said she couldn’t confirm that Tuolumne County Counts workers will have places set up around the county where people can go at this time. A 2020 census sign was set up before noon in Courthouse Square on North Washington Street.
“The new and shifting dates have kept me on my toes and I am currently looking for staff to cover some shifts as the deadline has gone beyond our Sept. 30 end date,” Moore said Thursday. “If folks know they can call the helpline, we can route them.”
Earlier Thursday, Moore said she and her peers at ATCAA and Tuolumne County Counts were not sure if the census was going to continue through the end of October.
“We think so, but we don’t know,” she said. “Everyday, something else happens.”
It’s important that as many people get counted as possible to ensure a more accurate count, locally and nationally. Moore said she and others with Tuolumne County Counts sent census postcards to everyone in the county last weekend that should have started arriving over the weekend and on Monday.
“Some people said they had not received anything from the census bureau, at least 20,” she said Thursday. “They were all over the county. There was no pattern.”
The most recent update posted to a Calaveras Counts Census 2020 social media page as of Thursday was dated six days ago, and it was a CNN story about U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh’s order that 2020 census counting will continue through Oct. 31.
Kathy Gallino, economic and community development director for Calaveras County and a 2020 census advocate, said her portion of the 2020 census effort – education and outreach – has been completed.
“I suspect the federal part/enumerators will conclude on Oct. 5,” Gallino said Thursday. “I called the 844-330-2020 number and the federal workers have been told that they are working until Oct. 5. As such, we will wind down our efforts for Census 202 accordingly.”
People can still get counted at the Mokelumne Hill Library, the San Andreas Central Library or the Arnold Branch Library, when they are open, Gallino said.
Marna Davis, a Sacramento-based spokesperson for the U.S. Census Bureau, said Thursday,
“What we’re telling the public today is it’s not too late to respond to the 2020 census. Please do respond today. It only takes a few minutes on your phone at my2020census.gov, it’s nine simple questions. It only takes a couple of minutes. You can also call and talk to someone at (844) 3302020 and it takes a couple of minutes, in 13 different languages, the language of your choice.”
Davis said the deadline has not been set yet, and there is still time to respond. Census respondents’ answers are protected and confidential and can never be used against individuals who take part in the census, per federal law.
“This is purely a statistical population count used to determine funding for your community for the next 10 years,” Davis said.
The Associated Press reported Koh said Tuesday that the Oct. 5 deadline picked by the Commerce Department to end the 2020 census may violate the order she issued last week, which cleared the way for the count of every U.S. resident to continue through the end of October.
Koh suggested she would be open to considering a motion of contempt against the federal government, or a motion saying her order had been violated.
In her decision last week, Koh sided with civil rights groups and local governments that earlier this year sued the Census Bureau and the Department of Commerce, which oversees the statistics agency, arguing that minorities and others in hard-to-count communities would be missed if census counting stopped at the end of September instead of the end of October.
California, with 39.5 million to 40 million residents, is the most populous state and currently has 53 congressional districts with 53 leaders elected to the House of Representatives.
The estimated cost of the 2020 census is $15.6 billion to count every single person living in the U.S. and its five territories, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.