Why I’m Raising My Hand to Support Census 2020

This post is part of New America CA's blog series on how Californians can support a successful 2020 Census. For this installment, our guest author is Libby Reder, a Fellow with the Aspen Institute's Future of Work Initiative.

Earlier this year, I flew to Los Angeles to give a presentation on the Future of Work at a meeting of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. With a bit of time before my return flight, I decided to stay for lunch. But I got a lot more than just a hotel ballroom buffet meal: the lunch session featured a presentation on the issues and challenges associated with Census 2020. It highlighted what is at stake: for example, Census Bureau data suggests that, for the first time in the state’s history, California is at risk of losing a congressional seat as a result of the Census. At the same time, it surfaced the barriers and nuanced challenges of pursuing a complete count in the Latinx community. That lunch inspired me to take an active, personal interest in the 2020 Census.

I’ve started by doing some homework. The census has been conducted every ten years since 1790, but this time around is poised to be different for a few reasons:

1. For the first time, the primary way to respond to the census will be online. The U.S. Census Bureau has set a target to receive more than half of all responses online, in spite of the fact that online response was only used for the census in a limited fashion in 2000 and was abandoned in 2010 because of concerns about privacy and data security. In addition, differences in digital access make certain hard-to-count populations even harder to count via internet response.
2. This year, the U.S. Census Bureau has been starved of essential federal funding that could have enabled testing and rehearsal to ensure a smooth enumeration.
3. While the census questionnaire will not include a question about citizenship, public debate over its inclusion may have already done the damage reported to have been intended: the spectre of the misuse of personal information may be enough to keep some people from responding.

For all of these reasons, I’m inspired to get more involved to ensure that all people are counted - in California and across the country. I’m also interested in the potential that the census effort offers to help strengthen the grassroots of democracy. For example, community-based organizations, such as social service nonprofits, often touch hard-to count populations, such as people who are aging or disabled, communities of color, those experiencing homelessness, and those for whom English is not a first language. The census is a way for these organizations to engage on a non-political civic participation issue in a novel way, helping them to build a muscle that may also be useful during future voter registration and non-political get out the vote efforts.

Ultimately, the census is about fairness: it determines how federal funding is distributed for essentials like roads, bridges, schools, hospitals and more; how people are represented in elected government, both directly and through the Electoral College; and how district lines are drawn. In short, the data from the Census enables us to plan for the future. As Census 2020 approaches, let’s not stop at raising our own hands to be counted. Let’s strengthen California’s democracy by helping all of our neighbors to be counted, too. If you want to learn more, check out the State of California’s census efforts or plug in locally by reaching out to your local complete count committee.