STATEWIDE — Thursday is the new deadline to make sure every person is counted in the 2020 census.
What You Need To Know
- Internet self-response ends on Friday at 5:59 a.m.
- Paper responses must be postmarked by Thursday
- People can visit 2020Census.gov to respond before the deadline
- Here's why filling out the U.S. Census Matters
After a Supreme Court ruling, the Census Bureau said its field crews will stop collecting information on Thursday, and people can respond online though, but time is almost at an end.
According to the Census Bureau's website, the deadline for internet self-response is 5:59 a.m. on Friday, October 16.
Paper responses must be postmarked by Thursday, October 15.
The original deadline to submit census questionnaires was the end of July, then it was extended until October, now it is Thursday, October 15.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court granted a request from President Donald Trump to end the census sooner to give the Commerce Department time to get an accurate count before delivering the results at the end of the year.
Months ago, Kissimmee started outreach efforts in English and Spanish with Make Osceola Count to encourage people to respond.
“We need everyone to be counted for the 2020 Census,” said Melissa Zayas-Moreno, Kissimmee’s Communications and Public Affairs officer. “It impacts housing, it impacts education, it impacts health, so we need people to please make yourself count.”
Census response rates show Seminole County ranks first in self-response rates in Florida with more than 73 percent.
Osceola County is 37th on that same list as of Wednesday at more than 57 percent.
Nearly 67 percent of Pinellas County residents have responded already, and county officials are urging anyone who has not completed it yet to participate.
Pinellas County currently has the second-highest self-response rate among Florida's large counties, but county officials are still concerned about being undercounted.
The numbers are only collected once every 10 years. The census determines how much federal funding states receive and how many representatives in Congress.
Right now, Pinellas County has three representatives, but that could change based on how many people respond.
A group of community leaders and county officials even formed a coalition to encourage people to complete the Census using ads and social media campaigns.
People can visit 2020Census.gov to respond before the deadline.
To see response rates by state, county, or city, go here.