Statement on 2020 Census

07/12/2019

Statement from Naomi Zauderer, chair of the Campaign Finance Board’s Voter Assistance Advisory Committee:

"On behalf of the Board and the committee, we are extremely pleased that the 2020 Census form will not include a citizenship question.

Far from enabling more robust enforcement of the Voting Rights Act, as the government originally claimed, including a citizenship question would undermine a core principle of that law: fair and effective representation for all communities. Experts at the Census Bureau have predicted that including a citizenship question would lead to lower self-response rates thereby “reducing the quality of the count.” Such an outcome would prevent the Census from determining “the whole number of persons in each state,” as mandated by the Constitution. Without a full and complete Census count, achieving fair representation, as called for in the Voting Rights Act, is not possible."

NYC Votes is the non-partisan voter engagement campaign of the New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) and its Voter Assistance Advisory Committee (VAAC). In addition to promoting voter registration, participation, and civic engagement in New York City through its many programs and partnerships, NYC Votes sponsors the city’s official Debate Program and produces the citywide Voter Guide.