therightfangirl | Census on Campus (Reply)

Some of you may have noticed that the census questionnaires explicitly instruct not to include college students as residents of the household. Instead, we fill out this form at school, which records all the same data about age and race. Question 6, however, asks "Do you live or stay in this facility [i.e. the college dorm] most of the time?" If the answer is yes (as it will be for most college students, because the academic year is about eight months long), then the address of the dorm is considered your residence.

Anyone else see the problem here?

By answering yes to that question, I'm being counted as a resident of the state of New York, because I go to school there, even though my permanent address is actually in the state of Connecticut. Last time I checked the Constitution, the purpose of the census was to determine the number of Representatives each state has. I'm registered to vote in Connecticut, where my permanent residence is. I should be counted in a Connecticut congressional district, not a New York one.

Most of the students at my school are from other parts of the country and likewise registered to vote in their home states. They're all being counted as New York residents, too. From what I can find at the census website, the official explanation for this seems to be that we're counted where we live most of the time because that's where federal resources will benefit us the most. But isn't the distribution of federal money a secondary purpose of the census? Shouldn't the accurate enumeration of congressional districts be the top priority?

I don't know, the whole thing strikes me as decidedly sketchy.