Make Sure You Are Counted

As appeared in the August 19, 2020 edition of the Lititz Record Express, Elizabethtown Advocate & Ephrata Review

Article One, Section Two of the United States Constitution established the House of Representatives, composed of Representatives apportioned by population among the states. This section also required an "enumeration" every ten years—which we know as the Census. Every ten years, since the first Census in 1790, Americans are counted to determine the apportionment of Members of the House of Representatives. This important population data is also used in driving out federal and state funding. 2020 is a Census year and it is time to make sure you are counted.

There are three safe and easy methods to use to make sure you are counted in the Census. You can respond online via the Census website, at 2020Census.gov, by phone with a Census customer service representative by calling 844-330-2020, or by mail. Most households should have received their initial invitation to respond from the Census in March, with paper questionnaires to homes that had not yet responded mailed in mid-April.

Additionally, Census takers are now scheduling visits to households that have not yet responded to take families' responses safely and securely to the brief questionnaire. If a family member is not home when the census taker visits, they will leave a notice of their visit with information about how to respond online or by phone. As necessary, they will make additional visits to collect responses from the household.

Our congressional district currently ranks second in the state for self-response rate of 75.5 percent. Lancaster County ranks second and York County ranks ninth, respectively, in response rates out of all 67 counties in Pennsylvania.

The deadline for responding to the Census is September 30, 2020. Make sure you are counted today.