In the United States, every 10 years since 1790, the country takes a national headcount. This is called census and its objective is to figure out how many seats each state receives in the U.S. House of Representatives. However, with the pandemic, this year poses a particular challenge for federal officials. How will they count the people with the ongoing situation?
Ted Landsmark is a distinguished professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University. He is also the director of the Kitty and Michael Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy. According to him, the assumption this year has been that people will submit their census forms online and/or use other kinds of digital media to ensure they’re counted. The assumption rests on the notion that everyone has easy and reliable access to a computer and to the internet. However, this is not the case in many parts of the U.S. Much of the efforts of local organisations have been hindered by public health protocols that require physical distance and isolation even though they have been preparing months ahead of the outbreak. COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the fact that underserved communities and rural communities aren’t very well-served. That puts the pressure back upon traditional counting techniques which is impossible during this time.
Again, Landsmark says that undercounting in the census could lead to the loss of a congressional seat in the district, or more, as well as potentially billions of dollars of federal funding. Education programs that are federally would suffer along with healthcare services for children. Thus, Landsmark believes that the next best option is that people fill out the form by hand and mail it in for the census. However, the U.S. Postal Service is seized by the effects of COVID-19. Hence, the U.S. Census Bureau may need to rely upon specific federal agencies, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to invest in community-based outreach.
“As the initial census-filling period starts to wind down, we’ll need heavy participation on the part of community organisations to assure that people complete and submit those census forms”, says Landsmark.
Shahjadi Jemim Rahman