States have traveling residents on their Census radar

[ccharles000]

Minnesota's efforts to count its traveling residents during the 2000 Census were modest.

Barbara Ronningen, one of the state's demographers, says she gave her father, Sidney Ronningen, and other Minnesotans who went south for the winter fliers to hand out at gatherings of the state's snowbirds at annual picnics in Arizona and Florida.

"We weren't in danger of losing a congressional seat back then," she said.

The 2010 Census is different. The state stands to lose one of its eight congressional seats because population growth has lagged behind other states. So, Ronningen says, it is working aggressively with communities and organizations to make sure each head is counted, whether in Minneapolis or Mesa.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/2009-12-16-census-snowbirds-forms_N.htm

[TexasObserver]

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