The US Census Bureau released a report Thursday stating that the 2020 Census undercounted Black, Latino and Native American populations while overcounting white and Asian-Americans, the New York Times reports.
The 2020 Census was fraught with problems–some caused by the pandemic and others by mismanagement of the Trump Administration. The Department of Commerce, which runs the Census, delayed hiring door knockers and created a shorter window to conduct home surveys, which tries to compensate for missing forms by sending people to homes. Additionally, the Census count took place at a time where the nation was beset by natural disasters, from California wildfires to severe weather in Texas.
The Trump Administration reportedly intended to sabotage the Constitutionally-mandated counting of the population, which stated the US population increased 5% over the previous decade to 323 million people. Republicans wanted to undercount Black and minority voters because they tend to vote Democratic, so the GOP wanted to lower their impact so Republicans would control redistricting efforts.
“This is notable, given the unprecedented challenges of 2020,” Robert L. Santos, the bureau’s director, said. “But the results also include some limitations — the 2020 census undercounted many of the same population groups we have historically undercounted, and it overcounted others.”