Administration Says 2000 Census a ‘Quality Count,’ Won’t Be Adjusted

The Bush administration said Tuesday that the original numbers collected during the 2000 census will become the official figures for redrawing election districts and for the distribution of federal funds, although an estimated 3 million people were missed in the census.

“We have achieved a quality count,” Commerce Secretary Don Evans said at a news conference. Evans, as expected, agreed with last week’s Census Bureau recommendation that the original survey of the population of the United States on April 1 was the most accurate information now available.

A second, smaller survey conducted last year produced an estimate that as many as 3.3 million people were overlooked in the census. However, the use of this adjusted data was rejected by a committee of Census Bureau professionals, who said they could not be certain that it was a more accurate tally than the original census.

Democrats in Congress and civil rights groups favored the adjusted data, saying they would provide a better tally of minority group members, who might have been overlooked in the original count.

Underscoring the contentiousness of the count, Democrats on Tuesday released a paper prepared by a consultant that showed an estimated Latino population of 35.5 million, based on the smaller survey.

If accurate, that would surpass the African American population for the first time. However, this total assumes a much larger number of illegal immigrants living in the United States than most experts believe is the case.

The results of the second survey were not accepted by the team of Census Bureau professionals who last week declared that the initial survey is the best scientific estimate of the population.

As part of its regular population estimates, the government reported late last year that blacks are the largest minority group, with 35.5 million people, or 12.8% of the population. Latinos rank second, with 32.8 million people, or 11.8% of the U.S. population. Population experts believe Latinos will become the largest minority group sometime this decade.

Evans’ decision on which set of numbers to use as the official count means that the Census Bureau can now begin distributing detailed reports on its nationwide tally of the population in every community. The first reports, on New Jersey and Virginia, are expected to be publicly available on Thursday, followed by a group of other states, including Texas and Pennsylvania. Information on all 50 states will be available by the end of the month.

The census, conducted every 10 years, is a vital marker for both political and economic power. The districts of thousands of elected officials, ranging from House members to state legislators to city council members and school board officials, are determined according to census results. And $185 billion a year in federal funds flows from Washington to local communities depending on these results.

Democrats were disappointed that the adjusted data will not be used because they would have increased the count of minority group members, who are more likely to vote for Democratic candidates.

They were also critical of the decision not to release adjusted figures. “There is no valid scientific reason to hide the census data from the American public, so Secretary Evans’ decision is very disappointing,” said Rep. Martin Frost of Texas, chairman of the House Democratic caucus.

“The Census Bureau has said that some 3 million Americans were not counted because they ran out of time,” Frost said. “In today’s America, that should be unacceptable--whether you’re counting votes in Florida or counting Americans in the census.”

Evans said he had “followed a process that was open, reasonable and fair, and took full account of the views of experts.”

The recommendation by the Census Bureau professional experts was a victory for Republicans, who had argued that the census itself was an accurate count and needed no adjustment.

William G. Barron Jr., the acting census director, said at Tuesday’s news conference that it would take months of additional study and analysis to determine if adjusted data could eventually be used to provide a more accurate picture of the nation’s population.