Editorial: Trump's obsession w/ undocumented residents threatens to undermine accuracy of the Census

[riversedge]

TODAY'S DEBATE
Sped-up census is a recipe for inaccuracy
Our View: Trump's obsession with undocumented residents threatens to undermine the accuracy of the count.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/todaysdebate/2020/09/03/midst-covid-why-accelerate-once-decade-census-editorials-and-debates/5694415002/
The Editorial Board
USA TODAY Sept 4, 2020

You’re currently reading “Sped-up census is a recipe for inaccuracy,” which is one of two perspectives in Today’s Debate.

For a counterpoint, read “We’ll deliver a complete and accurate census count.”

President Donald Trump has shown a unique talent for politicizing or mismanaging respected institutions such as the Postal Service and Voice of America. So perhaps it's no surprise that he's also at risk of botching the once-a-decade census.

Counting "the whole number of persons in each state" — as presidents are constitutionally required to do every 10 years — would have been difficult for any leader during a pandemic. And when the nation partially shut down in March as the coronavirus spread, the Census Bureau suspended field operations.

The following month, Trump prudently asked Congress for permission to delay providing final numbers until April 30, 2021. Those numbers are used to apportion 435 House of Representatives seats by population, draw the lines of state legislative districts, and allocate $1.5 trillion in federal assistance annually. ...............

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.................The Census has gotten better with each passing decade, achieving a 99.9% accurate count in 2010. It would be a shame if the Trump administration, through incompetence or political malice, seriously reverses that progress.

[murielm99]

1. Of course.

Everything else is broken.

Why not this, too?

[2naSalit]

2. Too late...

The damage is done. But it can be undone with a new president and Democratic Congress, otherwise, forget it.