census bureau

August 9, 2022 - A recent study from the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice details how racism is behind state laws that suppress voter participation. The analysis comes as the nation gears up for midterm elections in which voters of color will play a crucial role.

May 7, 2021 - While Southern states didn't grow as fast as many expected, more than half of U.S. population gains in the 2020 census were in the South, boosting the region's clout.

November 20, 2019 - In the U.S. census count set for next year, many states in the South will continue to count prisoners as residents of the district where the prison is located rather than in their home communities — a practice that distorts representative democracy. But efforts are underway in some states to change how prisoners are counted.

June 12, 2019 - New evidence from the files of a dead North Carolina gerrymandering expert reveals the Trump administration pushed for the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census to benefit the Republican Party. But the question could lead to an undercount, which would diminish the South's electoral power and cheat it of its fair share of federal funds. 

March 29, 2018 - For years, Southern state legislators have tried to defend racial gerrymandering by claiming that it's required by the Voting Rights Act. Now the Trump administration is pointing to the same law to justify a new census question about citizenship.

August 25, 2017 - The Census Bureau had initially planned to include the Bluefield-Beckley-Oak Hill area of West Virginia in its dress rehearsal for the 2020 census, but budget cuts forced it to scale back its plans. As a result, not a single Southern or rural community will be included in the full test, deepening worries about the count's accuracy.

June 28, 2017 - With the 2020 count approaching, concerns are mounting that budget cuts and turnover at the U.S. Census Bureau could lead to missing significant numbers of historically undercounted residents — many in disadvantaged Southern communities that depend on accurate numbers to apportion political power and fund services.