What Is Happening at the U.S. Census Bureau?

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday concerns the U.S. Census Bureau and how it counts residents of blue states and red states. Accounting to Fred Lucas at The Daily Signal, Robert Santos, the director of the U.S. Census Bureau will testify on December 5 before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and face questions regarding errors in the counting of the last census. 

“The Census Bureau’s review of the 2020 Census revealed substantial miscounts and discrepancies tending to benefit Democrat-run states,” House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in a statement to The Daily Signal. “Congress has a responsibility to conduct oversight of these massive errors to ensure they are not repeated in the 2030 census.” …

“Additionally, current integrity issues with the Census must be addressed,” Comer said.

He continued:

“The Biden-Harris administration facilitated the worst border crisis in American history, allowing millions of illegal aliens to enter and reside in our country unlawfully. To ensure only U.S. citizens are counted for the apportionment of congressional seats and Electoral College votes, Congress must pass the Equal Representation Act to add a straightforward citizenship question to the Census. We look forward to hearing Director Santos’ testimony and ensuring the Census Bureau takes the necessary steps to deliver a fair and accurate 2030 census.”

The 2020 Post-Enumeration Survey found statistically significant miscounts in the 2020 Census in 14 states. [Emphasis added.]

The Biden administration’s Census Bureau revealed in May 2022 that it undercounted the Republican-leaning states of Arkansas by 5%, Florida by 3.4%, Mississippi by 4.11%, Tennessee by 4.78%, and Texas by 1.92%. The Census Bureau undercounted one Democratic-leaning state, Illinois, by 1.97%.

The Census Bureau overcounted Biden’s home state of Delaware by 5.45% as well as other Democratic-leaning states: Hawaii by 6.79%, Massachusetts by 2.24%, Minnesota by 3.84%, New York by 3.44%, and Rhode Island by 5%. It also overcounted two Republican-leaning states, Ohio by 1.49% and Utah by 2.59%.

The members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Electoral College are apportioned according to the count of residents completed every ten years by the U.S. Census Bureau. Therefore, it is essential that the count is accurate. It is interesting to me that more Democrat-leaning states were overcounted and fewer Democrat-leaning states were undercounted and vice versa for Republican-leaning states.

There were five Democrat-leaning states and only two Republican-leaning states were overcounted, while one Democrat-leaning state and five Republican-leaning states were undercounted. The numbers appear to indicate that something unfair and dishonest was happening.

Census Every Ten Years

Provision 18 of the United States Constitution is found in Article I.2.3: "A census of the population of each state shall be taken within three years after this Constitution is adopted, and every ten years thereafter." This provision gives every American citizen the Right to representation in Congress according to population in his state and to have the population corrected by a census taken every ten years. The first census took place in 1790 and has been repeated every ten years since. The Founders original idea was simply to count the population in each state. The federal census has evolved into a major investigation to determine many social and economic facts. States and individuals have fought the tendency to gather more and more information on citizens, but the Supreme Court has implied that the federal government remains within its authority. The census is very important because representation and taxes are determined by the population of each state. Parents could teach this information by telling their children how many people have joined their household since the last census was taken in 2000.