Calling the government’s preparation for the 2020 count “conspicuously deficient,” the lawsuit will allege that the census violates a constitutional mandate to count all the people in the country and disproportionately harms African American and Hispanic populations. The lawsuit was in the works before Monday night’s announcement by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross that the 2020 decennial count would include a question about citizenship for the first time since 1950. “To some extent, our country has become numb to this undercount problem,” Berry said. “An accurate census count is critical to the federal funding, political representation, and operations of Prince George’s County,” said County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D) in a statement announcing the suit. A vast majority of the residents of Prince George’s County are members of this nation’s historically disenfranchised populations.

Source: Washington Post March 28, 2018 03:56 UTC