ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – October 2, 2020 – On Thursday, October 1, California U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh’s ordered the U.S. Census Bureau to extend the deadline of the 2020 Census self-response and non-response follow-up field operations back to October 31, the original date that the Census Bureau had set for all public activity to end for the 2020 Census.
The U.S. Census Bureau has updated its website to state that the public self-response period will continue until October 31. But due to pending court challenges, the New Mexico Native Census Coalition and other organizations working on the Census still advise on using no end date when speaking about the Census because it remains unclear when exactly the Census will end. We suggest to continue to use the following messages when communicating about the 2020 Census:
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- Instead of stating a date when the 2020 Census ends, the message should be: “The 2020 Census ends soon.”
- There’s still time to complete the 2020 Census by phone at 844-330-2020 or online at my2020census.gov.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Census takers will continue to follow up in-person with homes across the country throughout October in an effort to reach every household.
Other key information:
Though there are pending court cases, the U.S. Census Bureau has stated it will keep the self-response period open:
- The online response website will be open through midnight on October 31, 2020.
- The phone response lines will be open through October 31, 2020.
The NM Native Census Coalition will keep you posted as information becomes available.
Our partners at iCountNM have also issued the following news release about the issue.
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