Decennial Census of the Population of Americans; Proposed Residence Criteria and Proposed Regulations for Demographic Questions

The Census Bureau is proposing to establish (1) the residence criteria used for identifying each person’s “usual residence” for the decennial census, and (2) restrictions on the inclusion of certain demographic questions on any questionnaires used for the enumeration of the population. These proposals are intended to better prioritize the Census Bureau’s Constitutional mandate to count for apportionment the “whole number of persons in each State” based on the concept of “usual residence”—a process that factors in an element of allegiance but otherwise should be colorblind and not be distorted in any way by questions about immaterial personal characteristics.