Nevada officials: Fill out your census form!

Language and privacy concerns have often been among the barriers to securing an accurate population count every decade, but the 2020 census is facing the unique question of how the coronavirus pandemic might also affect public reporting.

In response, federal and local officials are urging people to take the census now, avoiding the need for volunteers to later come into contact with the households that failed to fill out forms or did so incompletely.

“As a parent, as a daughter of elderly parents, I definitely understand how we’re all feeling a little apprehensive and we want to keep our families safe,” Las Vegas Councilwoman Olivia Diaz said Thursday inside the East Las Vegas Community Center, where she and census representatives helped residents fill out forms. “And part of that is minimizing the exposure, right?”

The U.S. Census Bureau on Wednesday delivered a similar message, reminding people it has never been easier to respond online, over the phone or by mail, “all without having to meet a census taker.”

“The Census Bureau will closely follow guidance from public health authorities when conducting this operation, as we do when conducting all field operations,” officials said in a statement.

Households across the country began receiving invitations to participate in the census Thursday and are set to continue to through March 20. Those who do not respond will be sent a paper questionnaire with prepaid postage envelope between April 8 and April 16, according to the Census Bureau.

For those still unreported, census-takers plan to conduct household visits as early as April 9 in some communities and then nationwide on May 13.

‘No redo’

Clark County Commissioner Lawrence Weekly, who forewent handshakes in favor of forearm bumps during a census kickoff rally Thursday, said that he had been pushing for constituents to respond.

It is particularly important, he said, for the vulnerable senior population so “they don’t have to answer the door.”

“There’s no retake, no redo; we have to get it right the first time,” he said. “I just think that it’s going to take all of us to reach out … and we’re just going to have to reassure them the best that we possibly can to get involved.”

With more than $6 billion in federal dollars at stake in Nevada for funding to health care, schools, transportation and other community essentials, officials have sought to stress the serious implications of an accurate census count, with Henderson Mayor Debra March calling it “the most significant thing” of 2020 during the rally.

For every person not counted in the census, which determines not only how federal funding is distributed but also congressional apportionment, roughly $20,000 over a 10-year period is lost to another state, officials said.

But the effect of the COVID-19 scare has been thus far tangible: The rally at the Clark County Government Center Amphitheater that Weekly said could typically draw thousands attracted roughly a couple of hundred.

“I mean, I think it has to be a concern to everyone, even when you look at the attendance today,” he said.

Census Bureau takes action

In response to the outbreak, the Census Bureau said this week it had established an internal task force to continuously monitor the situation. The bureau will adapt operations to ensure a complete and accurate count if it needs to delay or stop volunteer visits in a particular community.

The bureau also said it was conducting fieldwork for some other surveys by phone in areas where it was seeing an outbreak, and conducting certain meetings by phone and teleconference that otherwise may have been in person.

For special operations, such as counting people in nursing homes, college dorms, homeless facilities or prisons, the bureau said it had set up multiple ways to respond.

A Nevada census official did not respond to a message Thursday seeking information on whether the coronavirus outbreak had affected the number of census volunteers in the state. The U.S. Census Bureau said it had a “significant contingency budget” to address operational changes, including hiring additional workers and managing operations out of different offices as needed.

Outreach

In an effort to draw as much participation as possible, local officials have tried to reach people who might otherwise go unreported, such as undocumented residents and Native American tribes, highlighting the ease of filling out a census form.

Data on a form is confidential and may not be used against a participant by any government agency or in court.

“We have a large and diverse immigrant population in Southern Nevada that needs to be counted in the census, so our community gets the representation and funding it deserves from Washington,” Commissioner Tick Segerblom said in a statement.

The census might also be underreported because temporary residents, such as professional athletes or students, are not aware that they too should fill out a form, according to Bill Marion, a partner with Purdue Marion & Associates, which organized the rally on behalf of the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition.

North Las Vegas Councilman Scott Black said it only takes about 10 minutes to finish the 10-question census form, which is available in several languages, Braille and large print.

For those without computers who are seeking to fill out a census form online, county officials are offering free access at several community centers. It was unclear how the coronavirus scare might affect that availability, if at all.

The census, which has occurred every decade since 1790 as mandated by the Constitution, should be filled out by one person on behalf of everyone in the household.

For more information on the census, visit Census.NV.gov.

Contact Shea Johnson at sjohnson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272. Follow @Shea_LVRJ on Twitter.