Political Clout and Money at Stake in U.S. Census Count

Article 1, Section II of the U.S. Constitution mandates that people living in the U.S. shall be taxed "according to their respective numbers," and calls for an "enumeration" of the population be taken every decade.

Political representation is at stake, with the number of seats in the House of Representatives determined by the ever-migrating U.S. population.

Census workers will have to contact an estimated 134 million homes this year. The questionnaire contains 10 basic questions about residents such as name, age and race. The majority of residents receive the questionnaire through the mail while others will have a census worker come to their home.

You can find more specific information about your state, county or city here:http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd.  

How the census is used

	Census data determines how federal funds for infrastructure projects such as highways are doled out to the states.

According to a new study, more than $500 billion in federal funding is set to be apportioned out between the states and the District of Columbia based on demographic information collected.

"Counting more people means more money," said Andrew Reamer, the Brookings Institute policy analyst who conducted the study. He discovered that a percentage increase of one-tenth in the population would mean up to a 0.12 percentage increase in federal funds. That often amounts to a lot of money.

If the census fails to accurately count the number of people living in certain communities or groups, those areas are at risk for losing both political representation and money to pay for things such as roads, hospitals and schools. 

Furthermore, federal health care programs like Medicaid and Medicare use information collected by the census to determine who can apply for benefits.

Ensuring that everyone is counted

	The Census Bureau will spend $133 billion in an advertising campaign to boost 2010 participation.

It is difficult to get everyone to participate in the census. The U.S. Census Bureau spends millions of dollars every decade on advertising campaigns intended to encourage people to fill out their census forms (even sponsoring a NASCAR car this year).

Some groups are harder to count than others. Homeless people and illegal immigrants are difficult to locate and they are often more likely to fear revealing their personal information to the government. Those people who are less likely to participate, however, often need the most help.

National Public Radio reports that many charities and non-profit organizations are actively promoting the census this year, in an effort to make sure that traditionally underrepresented communities are counted.

Organizers from Voto Latino -- a group that encourages political engagement amongst Latinos -- have built a mobile phone application that offers free music downloads in exchange for contact information. 

Political implications of the census

	Republican Sen. Judd Gregg withdrew his nomination for commerce secretary when he though the White House wanted political control over the Census.

Though the census has attempted to count every single U.S. resident in recent years, questions have arisen as to why certain populations are missed. According to Time magazine, the 1990 census "missed an estimated 8 million people — mostly immigrants and urban minorities — and it managed to double-count 4 million white Americans."

Members of both parties often charge each other with pushing to increase or decrease numbers in areas that will be most politically beneficial to them.

Though census director Robert Groves told The Hill in January that his job was to "keep this [Census] as nonpartisan as possible," he acknowledged that the survey has political implications. 

Every state will begin the complex and often politically charged process of reshaping political districts after the census is complete. The way that districts are drawn can translate into a shift in power from one party to another.