On Sept. 24th the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction that enjoins the U.S. Census Bureau from ending its counting operations on September 30, extending the time to Oct 31. On the afternoon of Sept. 28th, despite that court order, the Census Bureau tweeted (see below) that it would be ending field operations on Oct. 5th. Chaos ensued.
In a new order issued by the district court on Oct 1, the court clarifies its original order and reprimands administration officials for ” further undermining trust in the Bureau and its partners, sowing more confusion, and depressing Census participation.”
Indeed the Bureau partners with hundreds of community organizations that had to change its publication and messaging materials to convey the Bureau’s adjustment of deadlines earlier in the Spring due to Covid-19. Another change was required when that plan was changed later in the summer to an earlier date. The court’s injunction order marked the third change and with the Bureau’s tweet, census partners were faced with yet another deadline. That means the counting deadline was initially extended to Oct. 31, then to Sept 30, then to Oct. 31, moved up to Oct 5th, and is now back to Oct 31. Yikes.
Read the court’s Oct 1 injunction order for a detailed discussion of just how confusing this was to census workers, other judges, census officials, and community organizations.
