Report: Most Americans (wrongly) think the citizenship question is still on the census
Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham appears at a 2020 census event in April 2019. He says despite concerns, the bureau is on track to carry out the first primarily online U.S. census with enough workers.
NPR
A new report by the Pew Research Center shows that 56% of surveyed adults thought they would be asked about their citizenship on the 2020 Census.
They won't be.
That's because the U.S. Supreme Court struck that question from the survey in a ruling last year.
And as households across the country start getting tapped to do their part, the misinformation could lead to lower turnout especially for hard-to-reach populations like immigrants and people of color.
While the Pew Research Center report found most adults are aware of the upcoming census, fewer knew what it would ask and how they could participate.
That's a problem.
The report released Thursday also found:
- Only about 1 in 5 adults knew they could take the census online. Yet 60% would actually prefer to it out on the internet. It's the first the U.S. Census Bureau has made it available this way but if history has taught us anything is that new technology rarely rolls out smoothly the first time.
- Republicans are more likely to participate; 83% of those who identify or lean Republican said they "definitely or probably will" fill out the census survey. That's compared to a total of 75% of Democrats or those leaning Democrat who said the same.
- Only about 1 in 3 adults surveyed knew the census is mandatory (thought the agency hasn't prosecuted anyone since the 1970s for failing to fill it out). People who are on the fence on participating said their biggest concerns were too much personal information being asked on the survey and mistrust of the government to use the information properly.
