MARYLAND – Communities nationwide are urging their residents to take 10 minutes on Thursday, April 1 — Census Day — to fill out and mail back their 2010 Census forms if they haven’t already done so. As the official reference date for the once-a-decade civic ceremony, Census Day will serve as the point-in-time benchmark for the nation’s population count for the next 10 years.
The U.S. Census Bureau mailed or hand-delivered about 134 million 2010 Census questionnaires to households in March. To date, just over half of those households have mailed back their census forms, an important milestone. South Dakota and North Dakota have achieved some of the highest rates of mail return so far (62 percent and 61 percent, respectively), followed by Nebraska (60 percent).
Residents still have time to fill out and mail back their 10-question census form, saving the government about $57 for each household that does not have to be visited by an enumerator. The U.S. Constitution requires an enumeration of every person living in the U.S. Every household that fails to send back its census form by mail must be visited by a census taker starting in May — at significant taxpayer cost. The easiest and best way to be counted in the census is to fill out and return your form by mail. If every household across the nation mailed back its completed form, taxpayers could reduce the cost of administering the census by about $1.5 billion.
“I’d like nothing more than to return money to the taxpayers following this census because they mailed back the census forms at a record rate,”
said Census Bureau Director Robert Groves. “In the end, the American public’s willingness to participate in the 2010 Census will determine its success and how much money we’re able to save.”
Broward County’s Census Day Event
Ilene Lieberman, Broward County Commissioner and Chair, Census 2010 Complete Count Committee and fellow Broward County Commissioners, Mayors from Broward County cities, NFL Pro Football Hall of Famer Dwight Stephenson, Broward County’s celebrity spokesperson, Broward County’s 2010 Census Complete Count Committee Chairs and Co-Chairs, Community and religious leaders will gather at the United States Main Post Office, 1900 West Oakland Park Blvd, Oakland Park from 10:00 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.
The “Voices of Broward” will kick-off the festivities by singing Broward County’s popular, catchy census theme song “Let’s Make Our Future Bright.”
Attendees are encouraged to wear red as a continued show of census support, in keeping with the County’s “Wear Red To Work” days during the past few months.
Miami-Dade County’s Census Event
To commemorate National Census Day on April 1st, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez, together with Miami Gardens Mayor Shirley Gibson, North Miami Mayor Andre Pierre and Miami-Dade County School Board Member Perla Tabares Hantman, will be hosting a press conference at the Stephen P. Clark Center, 111 NW 1st Street, Lobby, to answer questions about the census and encourage residents to mail back their census forms beginning at 10am.
