In previous Censuses, the main problem was reaching difficult-to-enumerate populations, such as the homeless. This year the greatest difficulty may lie in overcoming a deliberate campaign of misinformation about the Census itself, and how it would be misused by the Federal government. According to the Huffington Post,
"For months, right-wing activists and politicians have been criticizing the Census and urging people not to return their census forms. The anti-census rhetoric grew so heated that three Republican congressmen publicly chastised fellow Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) last year for declaring that she would not fill out her census form. But evidence suggests that some conservatives are sympathetic to the message.
The stakes are high: census data is used to allocate billions in federal funds, divvy up new congressional districts, and assign Electoral College votes that determine a state's influence in presidential elections."
The article includes a slide show highlighting "Census conspiracy theories" including using Census information to intern Americans, confiscate their property and abet U.S. occupation by United Nations troops.
Comments
Census Protest
If conservatives want to opt out of government by skipping the census, I'm not averse to allocating more federal dollars to the blue states, which tend to be coastal, more populous, and generate a majority (I'm guessing) of the country's economic activity.