You know those people who keep ringing
your doorbell and calling you on the phone, trying to get you to fill out the
2020 census? A new legal debate is currently examining how much longer they
will be knocking on your door.
In California, a federal judge issued a temporary
restraining order against the census bureau that prevents them from slowing
down their efforts, due to the new 2020 census deadline. The September 17 court
hearing will determine whether or not a request will be instated for census
counting to continue through its original October 31 date. Trump's
administration requested that the census counting stop one month earlier on
September 30 and began legal actions regarding changes to the census bureau's
schedule and their deadlines. According to an article from the National Urban
League, the restraining order ruling will give the census time and keep the administration
from stopping count, as the original October date was chosen to account for
delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The judge noted that the original October date can
help to allow for accurate census counting. The judge emphasized that an
incorrect count from the last-minute census date change could be damaging, as
census counting impacts funding, resources, and services for state and federal
governments for the next decade. There is also a concern that an earlier census
date will not account for adequate calculations for each individual in the
United States. The 2020 census associate director Al Fontenot believes that census
workers are additionally impacted by changes to the census bureau. Fontenot
explains that the bureau has already let some workers go, and there may be difficulties
in getting workers to return, suggesting that the sooner the Trump
administration can extend the counting, the more census workers will be
available to work.
The census bureau indicated its increasing efforts to
provide the president with first numbers of the census before the end of 2020. Though
without necessary time, census results may suffer. Fontenot states the the
census bureau has exhibited great flexibility and must be assured of what time
is available to allow for the bureau to conduct data for the 2020 census in the
most accurate manner possible.