ASA Welcomes Supreme Court Decision—Albeit Complicated—to Continue Blocking Census Citizenship Question

In a  joint statement, the ASA and American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision regarding inclusion of the citizenship question in the 2020 census. Politico summarized the complicated ruling as follows: “The high court returned the case to lower courts for further action, raising doubts about the administration getting the go-ahead to add the question before upcoming deadlines to finalize the census questionnaire.”

A timeline for ultimate resolution of whether there will be a citizenship question on the 2020 Census is unclear as of this writing. However, the Commerce Department reported it must start printing census materials by June 30—this Sunday.

The joint ASA/AAPOR statement said the decision “brings us one step closer to ensuring the accuracy of the data used to determine representation in Congress and the annual allotment of more than $880 billion in federal funds to states and local communities.” It also noted the associations have “strongly cautioned against the inclusion of the citizenship question at this late stage of the decennial census because the lack of scientific justification and the strong likelihood that census data quality will be compromised by its inclusion.”

Readers are invited to comment on the decision and next steps by visiting the Count on Stats LinkedIn group.