Court Order Keeps Census In Limbo As Counting End Date Looms

The winding down of the 2020 census must remain on hold nationwide through Sept. 24 at the latest, a federal judge in California has ordered.

The move by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh throws the national head count further into uncertainty as a coalition led by the National Urban League continues a legal fight to provide the U.S. Census Bureau with more time to tally the country's population and review results, which are used to determine the distribution of federal funding and political representation for the next decade.

The challengers are pushing for an extended census schedule that the Trump administration first proposed because of disruptions related to the coronavirus pandemic. Career officials at the bureau have warned that they need more time to avoid risking serious errors in the count that cannot be fixed under a curtailed timeline.

https://www.npr.org/2020/09/17/913364324/court-order-keeps-census-in-limbo-as-counting-end-date-looms?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20200917&utm_term=4835920&utm_campaign=breaking-news&utm_id=48780983&orgid=309