Mail Delays Could Hurt The Census, Too
After Oct. 7, the Census Bureau will stop accepting paper 2020 census forms postmarked by Sept. 30, NPR has learned. Some worry mail delays could harm the accuracy of census data about rural areas.
Under pressure from the Trump administration to deliver 2020 census results by the end of this year, the U.S. Census Bureau has set a cutoff date for receiving paper forms for the once-a-decade head count, NPR has learned.
The bureau confirms to NPR that it plans to only process paper census questionnaires postmarked by Sept. 30 — its new end date for all counting efforts — and received by Oct. 7 at one of its two data processing centers in Phoenix and Jeffersonville, Ind.
Although the vast majority of households (80%) that have filled out a census form on their own did so , paper forms have been the second-most popular way for those households — about 1 in 5 — to get counted, especially in rural areas.
