Rep. Nehls Sends Letter to Census Bureau Demanding Answers for Undercounting of Red States in 2020 Census

Last week, I sent a letter to U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert L. Santos concerning the significant undercounting and overcounting of states in the 2020 Census, which cost states like Texas an additional seat in Congress.

It has come to my attention that the U.S. Census Bureau significantly undercounted the populations of six states, which primarily vote Republican, and overcounted the populations of eight states, which primarily vote Democrat. As a result, these blue states will now have more representation in Congress, more votes in the Electoral College, and may well receive more federal funds, than they should.

According to the 2020 Post-Enumeration Survey (PES), the U.S. Census Bureau significantly undercounted the populations of Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas, while it overcounted Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Utah, and Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware. Specifically, the PES said the state of Texas was undercounted by almost 2%, which represents over half a million Texans. At the time of the 2020 census, Texas needed only 189,000 more people to gain another congressional seat.

The numbers don’t lie. Texas was undercounted by 2%, which means we were likely cheated out of an additional seat in Congress. And four other Republican states were as well. This wasn’t a coincidence because things like this don’t just happen. The swamp in Washington has an agenda. They want Democrats in power and won’t let anything get in their way. We must get to the bottom of what happened. When Republicans take back the House majority, we will use our oversight authority to investigate the Census Bureau and determine how and why these significant errors happened to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

“I think it is essential for Congress to find out how and why these grievous errors occurred, and I commend Rep. Nehls for trying to get answers from the Census Bureau,” said Hans von Sparkovsky, Senior Legal Fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

Read the full letter below.

Dear Director Santos,

It has come to my attention that the U.S. Census Bureau significantly undercounted the populations of six states, which primarily vote Republican, and overcounted the populations of eight states, which primarily vote Democrat.[1] As a result, these blue states will now have more representation in Congress, more votes in the Electoral College, and may well receive more federal funds than they should. This is deeply concerning for the legitimacy of our Democracy.

According to the 2020 Post-Enumeration Survey (PES), the U.S. Census Bureau significantly undercounted the populations of Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas, while it overcounted Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Utah, and Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware.[2] I do not believe this was a coincidence, as the Bureau has failed to provide any explanation for this severe undercounting and overcounting. The Bureau has made clear that, based on the PES results, states cannot change their census counts.[3]

Therefore, I ask you to respond to the following questions:

1. What, specifically, led to the inaccurate count?
2. What steps are you taking to determine what led to the inaccuracy?
3. When do you expect the determination to be completed?
4. Why was there such a difference in the error rate from the prior, 2010 Census, which showed a statistically insignificant error rate of only 0.01%?[4]
5. What steps are you taking to ensure these errors do not occur again?
6. Was the U.S. Census Bureau instructed by anyone in the Executive Branch or otherwise to take steps differently than in 2010 that would lead to this inaccuracy?
7. Will the American Community Survey be used in the states where the errors occurred to get better information on those areas?

Specifically, the PES said the state of Texas was undercounted by almost 2%, which represents over half a million Texans.[5] At the time of the 2020 census, Texas needed only 189,000 more people to gain another congressional seat.[6] Therefore, while Texas likely was cheated out of an additional member of Congress, states like Minnesota and Rhode Island kept seats they should have lost if not for overcounting.[7] For the sake of a legitimate democracy, we must ensure that the necessary changes are made to prevent this from happening again.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. I look forward to hearing from you.