2018 04: The High Stakes of Census 2020

Though the issue of adding the citizenship question to the census largely has been thought of as a partisan one, a deeper investigation reveals there may be consequences for both parties. The map uses data from the Census Bureau’s new Response Outreach Area Mapper and shows predicted mail non-response rates. The darker blue areas depict low mail-in response areas. While these areas tend to be most concentrated in immigrant-dense areas along the West Coast, battleground states like Colorado and Florida as well as states like Mississippi and the Carolinas with difficult-to-reach populations could also be adversely affected. Undercounts in those areas may lead to loss of congressional seats in states that might otherwise expect to gain seats after 2020 Census. Undercounts also would lead to a loss of funding for states, since many federal programs base funding on population counts. Source: CityLab - Mapping the Threat of a Census Disaster in 2020 - https://www.citylab.com/equity/2018/03/mapping-the-threat-of-a-census-disaster/556814/