By: Pepper Fisher
CLALLAM COUNTY – US Census Bureau officials told employees last week they’re cutting short the effort to knock on doors to count everyone for the 2020 census. NPR news learned the Bureau will stop the effort on September 30, a month earlier than the original plan.
About 4 out of 10 households nationwide have not yet been counted, and one regional census manager told NPR, “It’s going to be impossible to complete the count in time. I’m very fearful we’re going to have a massive undercount.”
When the story broke, the Census Bureau released a statement explaining the reason for the shortened census count: “We are currently evaluating our operations to enable the Census Bureau to provide this data in the most expeditious manner and when those plans have been finalized we will make an announcement.”
County Commissioner Mark Ozias heads up the Complete Count Committee here in Clallam County. We asked him whether he had any concerns about the shortened door knocking period in his effort to get a complete count.
“You know, I’m not sure exactly what impact that may or may not have in Clallam County. The whole census was extended when Covid hit and my sense is that they’re just sort of making some adjustments now that we’re part way down the road. But while it always makes me nervous to have less time than more time, I think when you look at our county’s response statistics, particularly compared to the 2010 census, it’s really heartening to see that we have surpassed our mark from the last census and I, you know, I hope we can take full advantage of this next month.”
Ozias says Clallam County residents are responding at a higher level than the national average, with almost 7 out of 10 households accounted for.
“In Clallam County were doing relatively well in terms of our self-response rate so far. We’re sitting at, right now, at about sixty-seven-and-a-half percent, which puts us at number 13 out of 39 counties. And that’s actually about just almost four percent better than we did last time around in the census. And I think overall we’ve done pretty well, and I hope we get better between now and the end of the census.”
Ozias says although the east end of the county has responded better than the west end, door knockers are currently spread county-wide, mostly in rural areas.