So in theory, self response by phone and internet should alleviate the problems. But listeners are telephoning me after my morning radio broadcasts (where I urge them to respond to the census after washing their hands) to report problems they encounter during their attempts.
When someone tries to respond via internet at www.my2020census.gov, they are told in big, bold letters to enter the code that has been mailed to them (as per the screenshot below), but the census doesn't mail to PO Boxes. It tells respondents in smaller letters underneath to click a link if they don't have a code, but many people don't see that. It also does not accept the format of many rural addresses. Since so many in counties like Rio Arriba are internet naive, they don’t see the small print below the code request or think to invent a fake address.
People trying to call the 800 number to respond by phone say they either get a recording and are put on hold for hours, or get a busy signal and can't connect. The phone lines appear not to be staffed well enough to meet the demand.
Due to stay at home orders, there are no enumerators coming door-to-door to our homes, so essentially, people in this remote county are left without any way to respond.
The state legislature and Governor Lujan-Grisham put a great deal of money into outreach. In Rio Arriba we crafted plans largely tailored around fun community events. We’ve recalibrated in favor of phone banking to do census outreach and well checks, as well as radios, yard signs, flyers distributed with food boxes, and direct mail to post office boxes. And of course viral facebook campaigns.
These problems will heavily impact tribal communities across the US which are extremely rural as well as the colonias at the border.
Rio Arriba loses $3,750 for each individual not counted, or $37,500 over a ten year period. We also potentially lose Congressional representation. At the present rate, we are facing a 96.6% undercount which would mean a loss of approximately $1,425,572,625 over ten years. Imagine how many schools could be funded, pandemics could be stopped, and hospitals could be built! Imagine trying to run a school, build a road, deliver Meals on Wheels or face a pandemic without it!
Please help us get out the census count in communities like Rio Arriba across the US! Take the time to make sure your voice is heard, even if it means calling in the middle of the night. And then get on facebook, twitter or your favorite social media to tell people you counted!
Please feel free to post great census memes we can share in the comment thread below.