Getting counted in the census is fast, easy, private and decides how much political representation and program funding communities will receive.
The online census form, at my2020census.gov, is “It’s quick and easy,” The U.S. Census Bureau says. “The 2020 Census questionnaire will take about 10 minutes to complete.”
“Your response helps to direct billions of dollars in federal funds to local communities for schools, roads, and other public services,” the Census Bureau says, adding that, “Results from the 2020 Census will be used to determine the number of seats each state has in Congress and your political representation at all levels of government.
The Census 2020 website discusses that the Census Bureau takes the privacy of the information provided in the census seriously, explaining that, “Every employee takes an oath to protect your personal information for life,” adding that,
When you respond to the census, your answers are kept anonymous. They are used only to produce statistics.
The U.S. Census Bureau is bound by law to protect your answers and keep them strictly confidential. The law ensures that your private information is never published and that your answers cannot be used against you by any government agency or court.
In a tele-town hall on the census, held by the New Britain Branch of the NAACP, Jamie McDonald, Partnership Specialist for the New York Regional Office of the United States Census Bureau, assured that the Census Bureau cannot pass on people’s information to ICE, the FBI, police, housing authorities or any other government agency. In fact, McDonald said that people’s personal information at the Census Bureau is protected from disclosure for seventy-two years.
The online census form, at my2020census.gov, is available in a web browser, either on a computer or a mobile device. By clicking “Start Questionnaire,” people are taken to a page asking for a login ID number.
Many people received a mailing from the Census Bureau that had the number that can be used in this form, but that number is not necessary to complete the census. People without the number are able to click on the link below the space asking for the ID number, where it says, “If you do not have a Census ID, click here.”
The Census ID number only lets the census form locate people’s address to save them the time of entering it themselves. If the Census ID is entered, it takes people to a page asking them to verify their address.
If people click, “If you do not have a Census ID, click here,” they are brought to another page, where they fill out their address, themselves.
The census form then asks the household to choose one household member to be the primary person for the purposes of the form.
McDonald had explained at the NAACP tele-town hall that a phone number is only asked for on the form in order to assist Census workers in cases that arise, such as when two members of a family both fill out the census form for their family. If the information is entered differently between the two people, Census workers might call to clarify the difference.
After the first household member’s name is entered, people are taken to a page where they click, “Start,” to begin answering “Household Questions.” This begins with the names of the other household members.
The form asks about the ownership or rental of the house or building where the household lives.
The form asks for certain information about each household member.
This information includes different questions about the ethnicity of each person.
The form asks the relationship of each person in the household to the first person whose name was entered as the primary person for the form.
Each person’s age is also asked. The form automatically calculates people’s age, once their date of birth is entered.
The form asks questions at different points to ensure that each person in the household is counted and also to help identify household members who might have been counted somewhere else, as well.
The form allows people to go back and correct information entered, but only when completing the form in one sitting. The form says that, “You must complete your questionnaire once you begin. If you leave the questionnaire and return later, you will have to start over.”
The form also says that, “Once your questionnaire is submitted, you will not be able to access your information or change any of your responses.”
After clicking the “Submit Questionnaire” button, the website provides a confirmation number on a printable confirmation page.
The form says that it takes, “about 10 minutes to complete.”
The census is a process, written into the United States Constitution, in which the federal government attempts to count everyone in the nation once every ten years. The count from the census is used to determine representation in the U.S. Congress, the state legislature and the City Council. It also determines how much federal funding is made available under various programs.
