— by Minor Lile, Orcas Issues reporter –
Today, April 1, is National Census Day. Census information plays a significant role in allocating federal funding for the next ten years. Completing the Census helps to assure that San Juan County receives its fair share of that funding. The results of the Census are also used to determine the number of Congressional districts in each State.
According to the US Census Bureau, San Juan County, with a 17.6% return rate as of March 30, is currently lagging well behind the rest of the State, which has an overall return rate of 39.8% The national return rate is currently 36.2%.
This year’s Census is the first in the nation’s history to include the option of completing your return online. Completing the Census return online is a simple process that takes approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Begin by going to my2020census.gov. Note that the “How to Respond” area includes a lot of useful information that you might want to review before beginning the questionnaire. When you are ready to begin, click on the “RESPOND” button.
On the next screen, click on the “Start Questionnaire” button.
This will take you to the Log in page. If you have received a 12-digit Census ID, enter it in the space provided. Those who receive their mail at a PO Box are unlikely to have yet received a Census ID. For those who have not yet received a Census ID, click on the ‘If you do not have a Census ID, click here’ line (highlighted here by the blue arrow).
This takes you to the beginning of the questionnaire. There are four parts to the questionnaire: street address verification, household questions, people questions and final questions. It should take about 10 to 15 minutes to complete.
The Census Bureau utilizes many sophisticated tools to gather demographic information, but ultimately it comes down to each household taking part and completing the Census return. Please take the few minutes needed to complete the 2020 Census for your household today.
Each time there has been an article on the census, I have tried to click on the link provided, but it has not acted as if it was live. So I finally googled the census, and I found a link that took me to where I could fill it out. Here is the link: https://my2020census.gov/
Thanks for pointing that out. I’ve updated the link in the article.
ALL of us in the San Juans should take this advice to heart, and do the census NOW, if you have not already done so. This is particularly important for the residents who get their mail by p.o. Box, as they will never get the invitation by mail. The ground workers, (of which I am one) who would be contacting these people directly, have been shut down until at least 4/15. Read the link above, “National Census Day.” for a good explanation.
As said above, if you don’t have an ID # sent to you, go to the ‘If you do not have a Census ID, click here”, which you find through 2020census.gov, and then “Respond”, and “start questionnaire” April 1 is the day that all your responses should refer to….who lived at your address on that day. It is NOT the final day of reporting. This will continue for some time. It’s the law..you must respond.
Let’s have a better response showing than the 2010 census, which was poor. We rely on the FAIR apportionment of federal taxes.