The US Census Bureau acceded Friday to a federal judge’s order and announced it will continue the 2020 population count through the end of October, even through Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross claimed the count would stop October 5th, Politico reports.
Judge Lucy Koh of the Northern District of California ruled that because of the coronavirus pandemic and the late start of “door knocking” undertaken by the Trump Administration, the Census Bureau needed the additional time to get an accurate accounting of the population.
Judge Koh noted that the Commerce Department’s implementation of her initial order was “chaotic, dilatory, and incomplete” leading to a supplemental clarifying injunction Thursday to support her initial ruling.
The Census Bureau released a statement Friday night acknowledging that it would follow the injunction after a government appeal to a circuit court was rejected.
“As a result of court orders, the October 5, 2020 target date is not operative, and data collection operations will continue through October 31, 2020,” the message read. “Employees should continue to work diligently and enumerate as many people as possible. Contact your supervisor with any questions.”