by NC Census
April 01, 2010
The goal of the 2010 Census is to count everyone, once, where they usually reside. The Census also counts military populations deployed overseas. Under the current Census methods, deployed military personnel will be counted this year using military records and assigned to total state populations. Deployed soldiers would not be assigned to a specific county or community within a state.
Military communities in North Carolina would be undercounted through the current Census process, and local governments in these areas would therefore be under-funded and under-represented.
Governor Perdue sent a letter to US Commerce Secretary Locke, who oversees the US Census Bureau, and to North Carolina’s Congressional delegation suggesting that the Census Bureau alter its method of counting deployed military populations. If accepted this change would count deployed military personnel at their base of last assignment and mean a more accurate count of military communities and appropriate funding and representation for these communities.
On March 31, 2010, the North Carolina Congressional delegation wrote a joint letter to President Obama supporting the recommendation and encouraging him to support North Carolina’s recommendation.
