The Census Bureau this week made an upbeat assessment of how the large number has gone in Navajo County, bypassing most of the controversies that haunted the pivotal effort this year.
“Nationally, 67% of American households are self-responsive, an incredible percentage – and higher than in 2010,” Census coordinator Tammy Parise told Navajo County Regulators on Tuesday.
However, the self-response rate was only 35% in Navajo County and around 24% in the Navajo Reservation. Even Pinetop Lakeside had a self-response rate of only 34% according to the presentation.
Even so, in two months’ time the census workers army knocked on the doors of anyone who had not responded to the first survey. If after repeated visits they couldn’t reach anyone, they would go to neighbors or use other administrative records to keep house counts.
As a result, Paris’s help with the census counted at least 99% of the total population, despite the pandemic and a host of other issues.
National studies estimate that the lack of a single budget costs state and local governments $ 7,000 annually in federal assistance. The lack of a person will cost local governments about $ 3,100 in assistance each year for the next 10 years.
The countdown affects how many congressmen each state gets – and how states, counties, and cities draw electoral district lines. Arizona is expected to get a Congressional seat this year due to a decade of population growth. States that have lost population will also lose congressional seats – a long-term shift of political power westward.
Certain populations have historically been harder to count. Studies after the 2010 census found that Native Americans were down by 5% and whites – especially homeowners – were outnumbered. That undercount last year impacted the distribution of things like federal incentive money to deal with the effects of COVID-19.
Still, Parise presented the census as a great success, especially given the complications caused by the pandemic.
“I want to thank Navajo County for the incredible work and support in the 2020 census,” said Parise.
“You did a fantastic job,” said Daryl Seymore, chairman of the board. “We appreciate the citizens very much for their reaction. It was a great turnout. “
Self-referral response rates were generally low across Navajo County, which required a lot more work from census workers and their partners to contact the missing households. In the western region, the census used 48,000 censuses and worked with 67,000 partner agencies, including Navajo County. Self-response rates by city in the White Mountains were all well below the national average of 64% and included:
• Pinetop Lakeside: 36%
The census faced political and pandemic challenges this year.
The pandemic made it harder to recruit and retain census staff and made some people more reluctant to get to the door. Fortunately, using the internet for the first time helped fill out the nine minute census form. About 80% of people who responded to the census form without additional assistance trusted the internet, Parise said.
The Trump administration initially tried to change the rules to avoid undocumented residents being counted. She argued that illegally, people in the country should not be included in federal aid distribution formulas. The courts have overturned these efforts.
Next, the government decided to cut the number by 2-4 weeks, arguing the census needed additional time to process the numbers and meet the December 31 deadline for submitting the results to Congress and states. Critics said the short deadline was an attempt to outnumber these hard-to-reach groups like Native Americans.
The limit on the on-site census remained, but the courts extended the deadline for processing the numbers to April 30.
As a result, the states and counties still don’t have the actual census figures. This will affect the deadlines for redesigning the county boundaries for the governing body, state lawmakers, congressional counties, as well as a cascade of other downstream effects.
“Normally we would have already handed the division over to the president, who hands it over to the governors. They are not out yet, ”said Parise. “COVID has delayed our ability to process the data and we have not met the legal deadline of December 31st. We expect a release on April 30th this year.”
Peter Aleshire covers county government and other issues for the Independent. He is the former editor of the Payson Roundup. Reach him at [email protected]
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