Texts Reveal Supervisor Instructed Census Workers to Use Fake Data: Report

[tulc]

Texts Reveal Supervisor Instructed Census Workers to Use Fake Data: Report

A census supervisor in Alabama sent text messages to census takers instructing them to use fake data for households they were not able to get in touch with, marking down that such homes were occupied by a single resident despite not knowing how many people actually resided in the home, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

tulc(thought this was interesting)

 

[hedrick]

The census bureau seems to be saying they won’t be ready before Jan 20. I would imagine Biden would ask for an audit to catch cases like this. The NY Times looked at the consequences of an early end. It looks like red states lose the most in benefits, though might gain a House seat.

 

[Redwingfan9]

There were similar stories in 2000 and 2010. I'm not even sure it's fraud as policy by the Census bureau as much as it's poor training of temporary employees.

 

[hedrick]

There were similar stories in 2000 and 2010. I'm not even sure it's fraud as policy by the Census bureau as much as it's poor training of temporary employees.

I don’t think the accusation is fraud. Rather the Census bureau wasn’t given enough time. There were several stories about things they did, like asking a neighbor how many people lived there. I’m sure the intent was to do the best they could. But a new administration could well ask the census bureau to identify areas where the census was incomplete and finish it. One story suggested that some rural areas might also have been incomplete.

 

[Redwingfan9]

I don’t think the accusation is fraud. Rather the Census bureau wasn’t given enough time. There were several stories about things they did, like asking a neighbor how many people lived there. I’m sure the intent was to do the best they could. But a new administration could well ask the census bureau to identify areas where the census was incomplete and finish it. One story suggested that some rural areas might also have been incomplete.

They were given enough time. They had until October 31st as the law gave them. The Supreme Court upheld this deadline.

Biden isn't going to be able to change things once he's in office. The Constitution requires a census every 10 years. It was to be conducted in 2020. I don't believe Biden will have a constitutional basis to continue counting in 2021. I will say though that it would make for an interesting case before the Supreme Court.