CONGRESSMAN BOUCHER ENCOURAGES NINTH DISTRICT RESIDENTS TO PARTICPATE IN CENSUS

Residents Who Have Not Received Either a Form or Home Visit Should Contact Boucher’s Office

            (Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Representative Rick Boucher today encouraged residents of the Ninth District to participate in the 2010 Census and urged residents who have not received their Census form and have also not received a visit from a Census worker during the door-to-door count to contact his Abingdon office.

              Boucher said he is concerned that since people who receive their mail at P.O. boxes were not sent Census forms and that since many such individuals work during the day and might miss a visit by a Census worker, Southwest Virginia could experience an undercount in its actual population.

“An accurate Census count for the Ninth Congressional District will help Southwest Virginia get its fair share of federal funding for vital programs which benefit our region’s residents. If you have not received a Census form and have not been visited by a Census worker, please contact one of my constituent service offices, so that I can alert the U.S. Census Bureau to the oversight,” Boucher said.

            The 2000 Census had a 67 percent response rate, with an estimated undercount of more than 3 million people. Such undercounting can adversely affect the representation a community receives and its share of federal program funds. Census forms were mailed to residents beginning in March, and follow-up door-to-door counts began in May.

            “The Census Bureau is set to conclude its door-to-door count on July 10. If you believe you have not been included in the count and did not receive a Census form through the mail, please contact my Abingdon office at 276-628-1145, my Big Stone Gap office at 276-523-5450, or Pulaski office at 540-980-4310,” Boucher concluded.

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