Alaska flunking U.S. Census, only 37% responding, compared to 54% in U.S.

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CONGRESSMAN DON YOUNG SAYS WE NEED TO STEP IT UP

The state of Alaska may have had a drop in population, but looking at the data from the U.S. Census, one could wonder if there’s been a biblical-level exodus.

That’s because less than 37 percent of Alaskans have responded to the 2020 Census, the inventory of Americans that takes place every 10 years. Nationwide, the response rate is is currently at 55.6 percent. Alaska is considered the state with the worst response, so far.

In fact, Alaska has long been known as the hardest-to-count state, but this year it’s noticeably worse. At the rate Alaska is going with the Census, it could end up looking like the state with the lowest population. Right now, Alaska is third from the bottom in population, with only Wyoming (572,831) and Vermont (627,180) with fewer residents than Alaska (731,007).

During the 2010 Census, the final count was 731,545 Alaskans. Since then, the population has risen as high as 737,000 and has dropped during the recent recession. But by how much it has dropped is a moving target.

Congressman Don Young is concerned that too few people are taking part, and that could hurt federal funding that is often divided up among states based on population.

The fewer people who respond to the online option usually equates to a lower count overall, and that can end up harming Alaska at a time when it needs its full share of federal dollars.

The timeline for the Census has been extended due to the COVID-19 coronavirus; the new deadline is Oct. 31.

Field offices have been closed until June 1, and the door-to-door count, to attempt to count those who are not responding to their online option, will not start until August.

The current plan is to have Census staff drop off an invitation to participate to 29.7 percent (or 93,742) housing units in Alaska. The packet will include a paper version of the census questionnaire, as well as online instructions and a unique ID for online response. Householders can submit their census information either online or by phone, or by mailing back the questionnaire. 

If householders do not respond, the Census Bureau will send reminder mailings to fill out the questionnaire. Finally, the Census takers will visit about 9.6 percent of households to try to enumerate them in person. That equate to 30,178 homes being visited by census-takers from August to October.

30 COMMENTS

  1. It’s all about getting those Federal dollars! It says so right there in the Constitution.

    • I sent mine in but not until I made it clear just how pathetically racist many of the questions were. I thought the census was for counting US citizens not accommodating illegals.

  2. So if they can calculate 37%, then they already know how many total Alaskans there are. So what’s the point in responding if they already have a count? Government Logic. Besides the only Constitutional reason for the census is to appropriate the number of reps each state gets in the House. Unless Alaska’s population unknowingly exploded we are only getting our one Rep.

  3. Can’t they just easily count the number of persons filing for the PFD in 2020 > Surely no one who lives here would not file for that ? It wouldn’t give the racial mix of people, but it would at least be a count of citizens, right ?

  4. We live in the same house, same phone number, all the same stats that we had 10 years ago. Received no info by mail or phone or online pertaining to the Census. So a few weeks back I just went online and completed one. Funny, 10 years ago we had 3 different groups of people check on us. Guess we just thought a card would be nice.

  5. Maybe its because every time the feds stick their big nose in Alaskan’s business we get the crappy end of the stick?

  6. Funny how the government knew my bank account # for the Trump bailout dollars but they claim to not know how many people live in the state?

    • “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of a simple mind.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emmerson

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      Ever read “Bleak House” by Dickens?

  7. Article 1 section 2 paragraph 3 of the Constitution is where the authorization for the census comes from. I’m surprised to see so many who have recently been complaining about their rights being infringed upon…it’s almost like they’ve never read the Constitution.
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    You can do your duty as an American by taking the census by following this link https://my2020census.gov/login if you don’t have the 12 digit code click the I do not have a census ID link underneath the Login button.
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    If you’ve recently complained about your rights being infringed upon but refuse to take the census, which other parts of the Constitution are you going to pick and choose apply to you?

    • It authorizes “enumeration” for representation/taxation purposes. Any census questions beyond that are not constitutionally required.

    • Article 1 Section 2 only applies to Congress, in that Congress is responsible for the enumeration. They can do it any way they wish and there is no requirement for individuals to answer anything. They like to try and scare you that it is your duty under the Constitution to answer; but the Constitution clearly requires Congress to complete the enumeration not individuals.

      • Article 1 section 2 says, in part “the actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.” The last 9 words are important to the overall concept.
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        Picking and choosing which words to use is a liberal progressive hallmark. I’m sad to see people who claim to be conservatives or claim to believe in the constitution picking and choosing which laws and which parts of the constitution apply to them, as if they are above such things.

        • No where in there is a requirement for individuals to answer anything. It’s Congress’ Responsibility not mine or yours. There’s no picking and choosing anything. Just because Congress creates a Census with 5000 questions doesn’t mean I have a Constitutional duty to answer any of them. So piss off with your Commie Leftist Bravo Sierra.

          • I just love people who can’t use their words to defend their positions. You calling me a commie leftist is hilarious!
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            The constitution authorizes congress to conduct a census “in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.” It’s fine that you disagree with the constitution, just be honest about it. If you do not want to answer all the questions in the census, then don’t answer them…it’s your right as an American even if you are a misinformed American. Tell them how many people live in your residence and then write that the 5th Amendment allows you to not answer to anything else.

          • US Code Title 13 deals with the census. There is decided case law that allows for the census United States v. Moriarity, The Legal Tender Cases, Tex.1870, Morales v. Daley, Dept. of Commerce v. U.S. House of Representatives, 525 U.S. 316, 341
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            The Morales case might be of particular note, you can read more about it here https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/116/801/2576060/ Basically it holds that the government can ask you questions on the census and you are required to answer them. Or you can pay the fine, if they choose to pursue the penalties involved.

          • Required to answer? I haven’t answered for six straight times. The same line was used 10 years ago when Obama’s administration trained the census lackeys to threaten and coerce. I will tell you the same thing I said then……If it’s the law then come back with a warrant, but if you do, come heavy.

          • Picking and choosing which laws to follow, typical of liberal progressives.
            Definitely not a freedom loving American conservative who values the constitution and the freedoms and responsibilities enshrined within it.

  8. The leftist gov’t needs the census count so they will know who to treat with the most “programs”, free everything, and most predominantly, “who to call racist”. Sound a little far fetched? Most every inquiry into our personal life seemed to end with race, one way or another. Looking at the census questionnaire received in the mail, there seemed to be an implied threat. “Fill this out and send it back”, or expect an in-person visit, not to count the numbers, specifically. More to count the racial/ethnic ratio of America (and Alaska) residents, I believe. Numbers like an afterthought. I refused to fill ours out. Evidently, while I wasn’t looking, my wife filled it out and sent it in. I lost another chance to be a rebel. Oh, well.

  9. Census guy walked right in on me naked in my house. Didn’t knock or anything. Looked like the alien in Signs when Gibson told Meryl to swing away. I told him he could have gotten shot. He would have if it had been on my wife. He screwed up. Lots of fraud going on with so called census peeps.

  10. Have not heard or seen from the census people. Like earlier comments I have had the same address for 33 years. No issues last time around ten years ago. What gives? Maybe they need to review their efforts to contact people.

    • I think the COVID-19 pandemic might have a little something to do with them not traveling around the country knocking on doors meeting with people face to face.

  11. I have issues with the “census”. By the Constitution, it’s used to count noses (Americans) to figure out how many representatives a state can elect to congress. Census data has been abused and twisted from it’s original intent. It says nothing in it of how many toilets are in my house, how many dogs or cats, what’s the square footage of my house, what’s my income, how many cars I own, (insert intrusive question here).

    The last census employee threatened me with arrest when I told him 2 Americans live here. I told the employee to re-think his idea because he’s back-talking his real employer right now. All he needs to know is two Americans live here, 5th amendment rights will be invoked for all other non-census related questions.

  12. I helped take the 2000 Census. Worst job ever.

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    Alaskans hate government. They hate the Census. Too many questions and too much globalist garbage for its Constitutional mandate.

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    Alaskans are never going to embrace the Census.

  13. I sent mine in via the web. But I did pause for a bit and think about not doing so because that original question about citizenship status had been squashed. That is a critical data point that might have shed a lot of light on a number of issues.

  14. From foxnews.com/us/census-workers-failed-background-checks-vetting-oversight-watchdog-:

    “Almost 300 people working for the U.S. Census Bureau last year had “major” issues with their background checks and a lack of vetting oversight could pose risk to the public and the agency as it hires and deploys hundreds of thousands of census takers for the 2020 census, according to a watchdog report released last week.
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    About 70 of the workers deemed to have “major” issues were in the field last fall, verifying addresses ahead of the once-a-decade head count of the U.S. More than a dozen other workers with some kind of derogatory information in their background checks had access to Census Bureau facilities and information systems, and they included employees working in positions deemed “critical” and “high risk,” according to the report from the Office of Inspector General.
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    “Due to the lack of oversight of its background check program, the Bureau cannot reliably attest to the suitability of its decennial workforce — increasing the risk of exposing the public, the Bureau’s systems and facilities, and its employees to individuals who have not been properly vetted,” the Office of Inspector General said in a management alert sent to the bureau.
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    Some 10,000 background checks for employees and contractors haven’t been evaluated, some dating back to 2014, the watchdog office said.
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    In a statement, the Census Bureau said the backlog of the almost 300 major cases had fallen to 200 cases, and the remaining cases will be evaluated by mid-June.
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    …Job candidates hired by the Census Bureau can start working while officials with another agency, the Office of Personnel Management, conduct background checks on them.”
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    Then in our MRAK we read: “Congressman Don Young is concerned… that could hurt federal funding that is often divided up among states based on population.
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    Looks like a cool conundrum: Productive Alaskans should give up their information to who-knows-whom so their Ruling Class whose lying, cheating, and stealing forced the state into an alleged “budget crisis” can be rewarded with even more federal tax money.
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    Hard to say… this revolting turn of events deserves serious thought, yes?

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