Census Answers Are Required by Law
Dateline: 03/18/00
Yes, you are required by law to respond -- honestly -- to Census 2000.
Title 13, Section 221 (Census, Refusal or neglect to answer questions; false answers) of the United States Code reads:
- (a) Whoever, being over eighteen years of age, refuses or willfully neglects, when requested by the Secretary, or by any other authorized officer or employee of the Department of Commerce or bureau or agency thereof acting under the instructions of the Secretary or authorized officer, to answer, to the best of his knowledge, any of the questions on any schedule submitted to him in connection with any census or survey provided for by subchapters I, II, IV, and V of chapter of this title, applying to himself or to the family to which he belongs or is related, or to the farm or farms of which he or his family is the occupant, shall be fined not more than $100.
- (b) Whoever, when answering questions described in subsection (a) of this section, and under the conditions or circumstances described in such subsection, willfully gives any answer that is false, shall be fined not more than $500.
- (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, no person shall be compelled to disclose information relative to his religious beliefs or to membership in a religious body.
(U.S. citizens living outside the United States are not required to respond to the census.)
In other words, you can be fined up to $100 for not answering and up to $500 for lying on the census form.
So far the Census Bureau has offered no indication that it actually intends to charge violators or impose these fines, but if you fail to complete and return a Census 2000 questionnaire, a census-taker will be paying you a visit.
According to the Census Bureau, "Even though Census 2000 will make an
unprecedented effort to encourage everyone to mail back a completed
questionnaire, some people will not respond, and a census-taker must personally
contact these households."
Personal follow-up visits are currently scheduled to be conducted between April
27 and July 7, 2000 and you can be fined up to $500 for failing to let
census-takers in or refusing to answer their questions. (Title
13, Section 223, USC)
The Census Bureau stresses the importance of responding to Census 2000 in the following statement:
"Participating in the census is in the individuals' own self interest. People who answer the census help their communities obtain federal and state funding and valuable information for planning schools, hospitals, roads, and more. For example, census information helps decision makers understand which neighborhoods need new schools and which ones need greater services for the elderly. But they will not be able to tell what your neighborhood needs if you do not fill out your census form."
About the Privacy of Census Responses
Under federal law, all employees and officials of the Census Bureau are prohibited from sharing a person's
personal information with anyone else, including welfare agencies, the
Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Internal Revenue Service, courts,
police and the military. Violation of this law carries penalties of $5,000 in
fines and up to five years in prison. Millions of questionnaires were processed
in the 1990 census without a single reported breach of trust.
Reference Resources
Census 2000 Homepage
The U.S. Census Bureau has all the answers to your questions plus the reasons you should participate.Census 2000 - Help With Forms
Need help filling out your census questionnaire? Look here. You might even be able to complete it online.Title 13 - United States Code
The complete law on the census from Cornell University.
Also on US Government Info/Resources |
Why Should You Answer the Census?
Find out how your community depends on a complete and accurate census.Census 2000 Fast Facts
What's the schedule for Census 2000? What's on the Census form? What is there to be counted?Jobs at the Census Bureau? Count on It!
Thousands of full and part time workers across the nation are being hired now.
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