The quesTion of how many men, women and children live within our borders seems an academic one. A factoid, easily answered by the U.S. Census Bureau, which, by constitutional decree, updates its tally every decade using an army of 635,000 âenumeratorsâ who are employed to walk door-to-door, clipboards in hand.
Of course, the Census results are more than trivia. They inform the very foundation of our electoral process: how state and federal political districts are drawn; which Americans are counted for representation; and how federal dollars, many of which are allocated per capita, are spent.
are allocated per capita, are spent. âIt is vital, it is critical, that the public has confidence in the Census,â says Terri Ann Lowenthal, a former staff director of the House Census Oversight Subcommittee. âAnythingâŠ
