Text messages sent to field workers collecting data for the census indicate speed was prioritized over accuracy.
As Alabama census workers went door to door, text messages from a supervisor, obtained by the Associated Press, pushed workers to “check off as many households as possible on the list of homes census takers were supposed to visit because residents never had filled out census questionnaires.”
One text instructed data collectors to falsify data by marking households as having one occupant if workers were unable to interview a household after two attempts.
“You are to clear the case indicating occupied by 1,” the text from a census supervisor in Dothan, Alabama, said.
At least one census worker, who provided the texts to the Associated Press, said she did not comply with the texts due to the risk of falsifying data.
Earlier this month, the Census Bureau said it found “certain processing anomalies” during its analysis of data collected from the 2020 census, casting doubt on whether the bureau will meet its December deadline to submit the results to the president.
At the time, Census Bureau chief Steve Dillingham said that “these types of processing anomalies have occurred in past censuses,” but the bureau declined to provide further details. While no alarm bells have been raised that the errors run the risk of jeopardizing the integrity of the decennial count, it is unclear whether such instructions were isolated to individual cases as in Dothan or if they were more widespread.
A spokesperson for the bureau said the agency is “investigating the Alabama case and has not identified any data irregularities” and “can take steps such as revisiting households to improve accuracy” should any irregularities arise.
Any anomalies identified would exacerbate an already tight deadline for the agency, following a confusing back-and-forth of data collection deadline changes and court battles.
In October, the Supreme Court ruled that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross could end data collection ahead of the Oct. 31 deadline so the bureau could attempt to meet the Dec. 31 deadline. Following the ruling, collection efforts were instructed to halt roughly two weeks ahead of schedule — forcing field reporters to condense the two remaining weeks of work into the two days after the Supreme Court’s Oct. 13 ruling.
The data submitted by the Census Bureau is used to apportion states’ seats in the House and votes in the Electoral College until the next census. States also use the data to redraw congressional district maps.
If the data is sent to President Trump by the Dec. 31 deadline, he might be able to alter how immigrants who live in the country illegally are taken into consideration when apportioning House seats. Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution does not specify whether House apportionment should be based strictly on the number of citizens in each state, and the 14th Amendment states “representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state.”
If the bureau misses the December deadline, it may not submit data until after the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, who is unlikely to discount illegal immigrants when considering House apportionment. Three federal courts found Trump’s apportionment plan unlawful, according to the Associated Press.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Census Bureau for further comment.
