SUN EDITORIAL:

Let’s ensure precision

Potential problems with 2010 census should be addressed aggressively and now

Monday, March 10, 2008 | 2:05 a.m.

Government auditors told Congress last week that the accuracy of the 2010 census could be in peril because the U.S. Census Bureau has not corrected some long-standing problems and has eliminated some of its precensus work.

Officials from the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, told the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee on Wednesday that of particular concern is the Census Bureau’s intention to equip census-takers with hand-held devices for managing and verifying information.

These devices were obtained through a $596 million contract that, because of delays and cost overruns, now stands at $624 million. What’s more, auditors say, the devices gave “slow and inconsistent data transmissions” during census “dress rehearsals” last year.

In addition, GAO auditors say the Census Bureau has failed to plan for how it intends to monitor and assess the performance of these devices and doesn’t have a clear idea of how much it is going to cost to make the necessary revisions. Rough estimates, the GAO says, run from $600 million to $2 billion.

The GAO went so far as to add the U.S. Census to its “High Risk” list, which is a list of federal programs or areas that need reforms to prevent waste, fraud and mismanagement. The GAO was not set to update the list until 2009. However, the continuing problems with the Census Bureau’s 2010 plan prompted the GAO to note the inadequacies sooner to give the Census Bureau time to make improvements.

The U.S. Census, taken every 10 years, affects all areas of government work, from the assignment of congressional seats and setting of policy priorities to the distribution of billions of dollars in federal funding for government programs.

Even when it works at its best, the U.S. Census can hardly keep up with the population trends that affect fast-growing areas such as Nevada. But the Census Bureau and the Commerce Department, which oversees the bureau, should take some serious action to make improvements to ensure the outcome of the 2010 census is accurate.

Discussion: 1 comment so far…

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By JohnF

March 10, 2008

3:24 p.m.

Suggest removal

The use of sampling techniques to generate a census would be both less expensive and far more accurate. Unfortunately, the Republican Party has blocked efforts to do just this because the people undercounted by the census are traditional Democrats in states that are traditionally Democratic. Adding more people to such states could have the effect of giving them representation in Congress at the expense of Republican seats, not to mention the sending of federal dollars into Democratic districts. As is stands right now, Republicans in the Senate already represent far fewer people than do the Democrats. Feinstein and Boxer of California represent some 33 million people, while Enzi and Barrasso of Wyoming represent fewer than half a million. As we continue to undercount Democratic voters because of outdated counting techniques, we exacerbate the problem of one party wielding power in this country all out of proportion to their strength in terms of population.