There is growing concern the 2020 census, which had been planned to move from U.S. mail to online, "could be flawed, disputed, or both," The New York Times reported Sunday.
"There's a set of unprecedented challenges that collectively threaten to create a perfect storm in 2020," Census consultant Terri Ann Lowenthal told the Times. "If public confidence in the objectivity and quality of the 2020 census erodes, then another pillar of our representative democracy could be compromised."
Data from the U.S. census is crucial to dictating how over $600 billion of federal dollars are sent to state and local governments and how congressional redistricting during the next decade might unfold.
Funding cuts, a move to be conducted largely online — without enough trial runs of the online process — and a Trump administration focus on "aggressive enforcement of immigration policies" might impact the fairness and accuracy of the count, according to the report.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross issued a statement Saturday he was "keenly aware" of the challenges facing the Census Bureau, the Times reported.
"I am confident in our ability to conduct a full, fair and accurate 2020 census," Ross said, according to the Times.
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