Only a few days left to respond to the 2020 Census

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The census is nearly over, but there are still numerous people here who haven’t responded, according to the Census Bureau

As of Thursday, the state self-response rate is 68%, which does not include bureau assisted response.

The census numbers are responsible for representation in Congress and the allocation of billions of federal dollars.

“People have had adequate time to get this done and like I said, it only takes a couple of minutes. So I urge the people of Bowling Green and Warren County if you have not filled out the census for your home and somebody has not knocked on your door, I am urging you. It’s the right thing to do for our community,” said Sue Parrigin, chairwoman of the Warren County Complete Count Census Board of Bowling Green.

With COVID-19 sending students home, there has been some confusion about where college students should respond. The answer is – respond in the community of your college.

People also are unsure whether to count people who are not U.S. citizens and the homeless population, but Parrigin says, they are supposed to be counted in the census.

“Everybody gets counted. This is not about where you live, how your live. If you are homeless, we are going to count you. If you are not a citizen, we need to count you. If you are a Western Kentucky University student living in Bowling Green or Warren County, we must count you,” said Parrigin.

If you have realized you made a mistake on your census response, don’t worry, it can be corrected.

“If they’ve got their code that was mailed to the Census Bureau, they can go in and make a correction or they can call the 800 number and talk to a Census Bureau employee to correct it. We would encourage everyone to do that who maybe answered for the wrong location,” said Julie Trovillion, partnership specialist for the U.S. Census Bureau.

That 800 number is 1-800-923-8282.

The final day to respond to the census is Oct. 5.

With less than a week left for the census count, don’t be surprised if a census worker shows up at your door with questions, but beware of scams.

Census workers will never ask for bank accounts, social security numbers, or other private and valuable information.