Why is the Census an important issue?
A. The census receives little attention from Congress and the public in the years between each count, yet it is a lynchpin for governmental and private sector activities throughout the decade. Article I, Section 2, of the Constitution places the census at the core of our democratic system of governance, requiring an enumeration of all residents of the United States in order to allocate seats in the House of Representatives. Census population numbers and related demographic data are used to distribute tens of billions of dollars annually in Federal, state and local program funds that help our communities grow and prosper.
