Summary: "Rep. Troy Nehls says the errors cost Texas a congressional seat, vows an investigation, calling the miscount 'deeply concerning for the legitimacy of our Democracy.' ... and cost Texas a congressional seat to which it was entitled."
Tags:#Elections2020
The Foreign Desk
25 October, 2022
Excerpts
The U.S. Census Bureau admits it undercounted populations in five Republican-led states while overcounting people in six Democrat-leaning states, a disparity one congressman says cost Texas a congressional seat to which it was entitled.
Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) told Just the News he is demanding answers from the population-counting agency because the disparities uncovered by the 2020 post-enumeration survey show errors in counting large enough to impact the tools of U.S. representative democracy, such as electoral votes and congressional apportionment.
“The numbers don’t lie,” Nehls said. “Texas was undercounted by 2%, which means we were cheated out of an additional seat in Congress. And four other Republican states were as well. As a result, these red states have less representation in Congress, fewer votes in the Electoral College, and therefore receive less federal funding.
The Census Bureau earlier this year said a post-count analysis foud the 2020 census undercounted populations in five red states — Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Tennesee and Texas — as well as one traditionally Democrat state, Illinois. Likewise, the agency found it overcounted populations in six blue states — Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island and Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware — as well as two GOP-led states, Ohio and Utah.
Census officials acknowledged they were disappointed by the accuracy rate of the 2020 count, which they said was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. None of the under and overcounts can be fixed for apportionment, but the survey will be sued to try to make the 2030 count more precise, they added.
The undercounting was most severe in Arkansas, where 5.04% of the population was missed, while Texas was undercounted by 1.92%. The latter, however, was more consequential, since Texas is a much larger state and was already close to securing another congressional seat.
The undercount in the Lone Star State represents more than a half a million residents, and Texas needed only 189,000 more people to gain another congressional seat. On the flip side, Hawaii and Delaware were the most overcounted.
Willow Park Civics Research
Age
43.4 years Median age about 25 percent higher than the figure in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro Area: 35 about 25 percent higher than the figure in Texas: 34.8
Income
• $42,117 Per capita income
about 20 percent higher than the amount in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro Area: $36,368
about 1.3 times the amount in Texas: $32,177
• $101,048 ±$13,792 Median household income
about 1.4 times the amount in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro Area: $72,882 ±$399
about 1.5 times the amount in Texas: $63,826 ±$218
Poverty
9.3% Persons below poverty line
about 80 percent of the rate in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro Area: 11.1%
about two-thirds of the rate in Texas: 14.2%
Transportation to work
29.8 minutes Mean travel time to work
a little higher than the figure in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro Area: 28.4
about 10 percent higher than the figure in Texas: 26.6
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