Mahesh Shah, left, stands as his family members look while census worker Rumima Das, writes the information on a paper on the first day of the national census at Ramsingh Chapori village, east of Gauhati, India in 2010. Anupam Nath/AP hide caption
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Balloons decorate a 2019 event leading up to the 2020 census in Boston. The U.S. House has passed a bill that could help protect the 2030 census and other future counts from political interference. Brian Snyder/Reuters hide caption
Demonstrators hold signs saying "Count Me In" outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., in 2019, when the court blocked former President Donald Trump's administration from adding a citizenship question to 2020 census forms. Carlos Barria/Reuters hide caption
A newly released Census Bureau email written during former President Donald Trump's administration — when Wilbur Ross, shown at a 2020 congressional hearing in Washington, D.C., served as the commerce secretary overseeing the census — details how officials interfered with the national head count. Andrew Harnik/AP hide caption
Dancers perform during a promotional event for the U.S. census in New York City's Times Square in September 2020. Brendan McDermid/Reuters hide caption
A person wearing a mask walks past posters encouraging census participation in Seattle in April 2020. The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted not only last year's national head count, but also a critical follow-up survey that the U.S. Census Bureau relies on to determine the tally's accuracy. Ted S. Warren/AP hide caption
How many people of color did the 2020 census miss? COVID makes it harder to tell
Growing numbers of Latinos identifying as "Some other race" for the U.S. census have boosted the category to become the country's second-largest racial group after "White." Researchers are concerned the catchall grouping obscures many Latinx people's identities and does not produce the data needed to address racial inequities. Ada daSilva/Getty Images hide caption
1 In 7 People Are 'Some Other Race' On The U.S. Census. That's A Big Data Problem
Most Prisoners Can't Vote, But They're Still Counted In Voting Districts
Many at-home DNA ancestry testing kits require participants to mail in a sample of saliva. Cayce Clifford/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
The Census Has Revealed A More Multiracial U.S. One Reason? Cheaper DNA Tests
James F. Holmes, the first-ever person of color to oversee the U.S. head count, stands inside his office at the Census Bureau's former headquarters in Suitland, Md., in 1998, when Holmes served as acting director for about nine months. Juana Arias/The Washington Post via Getty Images hide caption
U.S. Census Directors Were All White Until James F. Holmes Stepped In
People holding umbrellas walk through New York City's Times Square in 2019. The U.S. Census Bureau plans to change how it protects the confidentiality of people's information in the detailed demographic data it produces through the 2020 count. Mary Altaffer/AP hide caption
For The U.S. Census, Keeping Your Data Anonymous And Useful Is A Tricky Balance
Workers in China collect demographic data in the the seventh population census on Nov. 1, 2020. TPG/Getty Images hide caption
Minnesota's state demographer, Susan Brower (center), walks with Dean Goldberg, donning a blue cape and black mask as "Census Man," through the 2019 Minnesota State Fair in St. Paul, Minn., to encourage residents to participate in the national head count. Victor Thorstenson/Minnesota Department of Administration hide caption
How 26 People In The Census Count Helped Minnesota Beat New York For A House Seat
Some states have gained or lost Electoral College votes because of changes in population numbers recorded by the 2020 census. Zach Levitt/NPR hide caption
Here's How The 1st 2020 Census Results Changed Electoral College, House Seats
U.S. Army soldiers board a bus in January 2020 at Fort Bragg, N.C., one of the military bases that will likely see population boosts in their 2020 census counts due to a change to how troops deployed abroad were counted. Chris Seward/AP hide caption
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (right) speaks outside the U.S. Capitol in March with other members of the U.S. House of Representatives, the size of which has stayed at 435 voting members for decades. Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Stuck At 435 Representatives? Why The U.S. House Hasn't Grown With Census Counts
Weeks before the 1980 census officially began, the Federation for American Immigration Reform launched its campaign to exclude unauthorized immigrants from population counts that, according to the Constitution, must include the "whole number of persons in each state." Ernie Leyba/The Denver Post via Getty Images hide caption
Immigration Hard-Liner Files Reveal 40-Year Bid Behind Trump's Census Obsession
The 2020 census has been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, historic hurricane and wildfire seasons, last-minute schedule changes, and President Trump's call to leave unauthorized immigrants out of a key census count. David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images hide caption
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who oversees the Census Bureau, waits for a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing to begin in Washington, D.C., in 2019. In July, Ross directed bureau officials to speed up the 2020 census to end counting a month early, on Sept. 30. Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
U.S. Census Director Steven Dillingham departs a Sept. 17 news conference in Phoenix. The Trump administration is facing two federal lawsuits over its last-minute decision to cut the 2020 census schedule short. Ross D. Franklin/AP hide caption
The Trump administration has announced its third new political appointee in less than two months at the U.S. Census Bureau, which is headquartered in Suitland, Md. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption