Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Starting March 12, our nation can start making history by self-responding to the 2020 Census. The goal of the Census is to count everyone once, only once and in the right place. The Census is all about getting money for new roads… building new schools… funding new healthcare facilities… bringing new businesses to your community… and more!
Households in North Dakota will receive information about the Census in various ways and at various times. Since the Census is tied to addresses, the Census Bureau will try to give residents at addresses that have not responded to multiple opportunities.
Most households will receive an invitation to respond to the Census starting March 12. That letter will include an ID number that is tied to the household’s physical address. People are then encouraged to go online with the ID number to respond to the Census. They can also respond over the phone or wait for a paper form to arrive in few weeks. Note: The ID number is NOT required to respond to the Census.
95% of households will receive an invitation letter in the mail. The other 5% include households counted through different operations; for example those that receive mail from a P.O. Box, are in an area of low internet connectivity or are considered group quarters – like dorms or nursing homes. At locations with P.O. Boxes, the Census invitation/questionnaire will be physically delivered to the household starting later in March and into April.
After a series of reminder mailings, if the household has not self-responded to the Census, we will begin sending enumerators (census takers) door to door to collect responses. In most areas of the country, enumerators will work May through July, although some areas may see enumerators in the field in April.
Here is a timeline of when things will happen (dates could change slightly due to locality):
• March 12-20: Initial invitations to respond online and by phone will be delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. Areas that are less likely to respond online will receive a paper questionnaire along with the invitation to respond online or over the phone.
• March 16-24: Reminder letters will be delivered.
• March 26-April 3: Reminder postcards will be delivered to households that have not responded.
• April 8-16: Reminder letters and paper questionnaires will be delivered to remaining households that have not responded.
• April 20-27: Final reminder postcards will be delivered to households that have not yet responded before census takers follow up in person.
If a household does not respond to any of the invitations, a census taker will follow up in person sometime between May 13 and July 31.
Throughout the Response Phase, the Census Bureau will monitor response rates and will create Mobile Questionnaire Assistance (MQA) sites in areas with low response rates. The Census Bureau plans to send staff to places in low responding areas where people gather, like grocery stores, churches, and libraries, to answer questions and assist people in responding to the census online and on the spot. Locations will be staffed with existing census staff who have already spent months working in their communities and will have computers and tablets available to assist in responding.
