Census Bureau officials discovered data issues while working through 2020 Census responses, which include several “high complexity” problems and threaten to delay completion of a key tally until February, according to a new set of internal Census documents shared by House Democrats on Wednesday.
That delay would mean the Trump administration would be unable to implement its plan to exclude undocumented immigrants when dividing seats in the US House of Representatives, as President Donald Trump leaves office on January 20. Several federal courts have blocked this policy, and on Monday the Supreme Court heard arguments over the matter.Several of the issues are of “high complexity” and incorrect handling would skew the count smaller or larger in some areas, the documents say.
The issues include the ways the Census Bureau accounts for multiple responses and responses that are not linked to a specific address.The documents do not specify the precise extent of the largest issues. But the documents estimate an additional 20 days are needed for data processing, putting completion in late January or early February.