Choctaw Nation
Kelsey Brown
DURANT – The 2020 United States Census is underway but is running into stiff headwinds caused by the pandemic. Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma encourages tribal members and other residents of Southeastern Oklahoma to phone or go online to complete the 2020 Census and stave off an undercount.
“We don’t want the pandemic to cause an undercount for Choctaw Nation or any of the 10.5 counties in our region,” said Melissa Landers, who is coordinating the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma’s Complete Count Committee. “It is important that tribal members and residents use a phone, mobile device or personal computer to take just 10 minutes to easily complete the nine-question form. An undercount can have a devastating impact on the federal funds available to tribes and counties as they deliver critical services.”
“Field work by Census Bureau personnel, to deliver Census forms and answer questions, was supposed to be underway across southeastern Oklahoma but will not begin until May 1,” said Charles Tippeconnic, the U.S. Census Bureau’s liaison to the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
The bureau is sensitive to health concerns, Tippeconnic said, and will keep its eye on when infection rates peak.
While many homes with regular street addresses have already received their Census forms in the mail; others who receive mail at a post office box will not be. Instead, area residents using post office boxes were to have received their forms at their actual homes via in-person delivery.
Normally, the U.S. Census is conducted on a house-by-house basis. The first step is identifying each home, and then identifying the people who live there. However, it is not safe for Census enumerators to do this currently.
People living along rural routes are also impacted. Because many of those homes, being far from towns, are not served by emergency responders, they do not appear in any 911 emergency response databases. They, too, were to receive print forms delivered to their front doorsteps. This has not taken place due to the pandemic.
It is possible to fill out the U.S. Census without knowing your unique Census ID number. To do so either call the Census Bureau toll-free at 844-330-2020 to compete it by telephone, or complete the form online using your phone, tablet or personal computer by using the following steps—
- Go to the website, 2020Census.gov
- Look for the big button in green that says, “Respond Now”
- After clicking on it, click on “Start Questionnaire”
- Look for the link that says, “If you do not have a Census ID, click here.” See illustration for details.