WARREN — Time is running out to complete the 2020 Census before the Sept. 30 deadline, and an incomplete count could cost the region its fair share of federal funding and electoral votes.

Census workers are in the region now, after a delay caused by the pandemic, visiting neighborhoods to follow up with people who have not yet responded to the constitutionally mandated decennial census.

“Census takers (enumerators) will visit households that have not yet responded for an in-person response interview. We ask folks to understand these are local people doing local work and are part of the 500,000 people hired by the Census Bureau since last fall to conduct this very important phase,” Susan Licate, media specialist with the Philadelphia Regional Census Center, stated in an email.

People still can respond to the census themselves online at 2020census.gov, by phone at 844-330-2020 or by returning their paper form in the mail.

“Self-response reduces the need for an enumerator to visit a household,” Licate stated.

If a census taker visits a home and no one is available, the census taker will leave a notice of their visit and paper response form to fill out that can be returned by mail, she stated.

All census forms must be postmarked by Sept. 30 and received by the Census Bureau by Oct. 7. A second round of paper forms are expected to be sent to households that have not responded yet.

POLITICS

The census will help determine the distribution of $1.5 trillion in federal spending and the number of congressional seats and Electoral College votes each state gets.

Facing delays caused by the pandemic, the Census Bureau earlier this year pushed back, asking to extend the head count to the end of October.

The bureau also asked Congress in April to extend the deadline for turning in data used for drawing congressional districts from Dec. 31, to April 30, 2021. Top Census Bureau officials have said it would be impossible to meet the end-of-the-year deadline and the bureau expected bipartisan support for the request. The request passed the Democratic-controlled House as part of coronavirus-relief legislation, but has not moved forward.

Several civil rights organizations, cities and counties filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration, arguing its decision to cut the 2020 census short by a month had no justification, and it will lead to the undercounting of minority communities and an inaccurate head count nationwide.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in San Jose against the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Commerce, which oversees the statistical agency, asks a judge to reinstate a plan that had the once-per-decade headcount ending in October instead of September.

THE NUMBERS

In Ohio, about 80 percent of households have been counted, slightly higher than the national rate of 76.5 percent. People in Ohio responded themselves to the surveys in 68.5 percent of households and 11.2 percent with the help of a census worker, according to data provided by the Census Bureau. Nationally, 64.4 percent responded by themselves, 12.1 percent with a census worker.

In the Mahoning Valley, Trumbull County has the highest self-response rate, 68.7 percent, followed by Columbiana County with 67.3 percent and Mahoning County at 66.9 percent.

Youngstown and Warren have some of the lowest response rates in Mahoning and Trumbull counties, at 51.8 percent and 57.7 percent, respectively.

Canfield, Boardman, Howland, Cortland, Lordstown, Bazetta, Champion and New Middletown have some of the highest rates of self response, between 74 and 83 percent.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

rfox@tribtoday.com

Response rates

in Mahoning Valley

Census self response rates:

Counties

Mahoning County: 66.9 percent

Trumbull County: 68.7 percent

Columbiana County: 67.3 percent

Local commmunities

Youngstown: 51.8 percent

Warren: 57.7 percent

Canfield: 83.6 percent

Cortland: 80.2 percent

Girard: 67.9 percent

Hubbard: 76.4

Niles: 66.3 percent

Craig Beach: 59.4 precent

Lordstown: 74.4 percent

Lowellville: 67.7 percent

New Middletown: 77.7 percent

Newton Falls: 68.3 percent

Salem: 69.6 percent

Boardman: 75 percent

Warren Township: 57.3 percent

Howland: 74.4 percent

Brookfield: 66.7 percent

Liberty: 68.6 percent

Bloomfield: 60.5percent

Springfield: 71.1 percent

Jackson: 72 percent

Hartford: 73.5 percent

Berlin: 76.5 percent

Weathersfield: 67.2

Bazetta: 77.9 percent

Austintown: 71 percent

Braceville: 69.6 percent

Champion: 78.4 percent

SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau, as of Aug. 20