Poll: Nearly 1 in 5 say they won’t fill out Census form

The launch of the 2010 Census is just weeks away. Yet nearly 1 in 5 people may not participate in the high-stakes head count, citing mostly a lack of interest but also a broader distrust of government, according to a poll released Jan. 20 by the Pew Research Center. The survey, "Most View Census Positively, But Some Have Doubts," highlights the challenges the Census Bureau faces as it prepares to begin its tally in March.

Among the Pew findings, nearly half, or 46 percent, of people incorrectly believe that the law does not require participation in the census. Another 23 percent said they weren't certain. In fact, federal law imposes a fine of up to $5,000 for failure to respond, although the agency rarely seeks to enforce it.

The findings come as some groups question whether the agency's $300 million outreach effort is doing enough to reach hard-to-count communities. ''The big picture message is they've got a lot of work to do in terms of informing people,'' said Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center. He cited young people, those with less education and Hispanics who have had less exposure to the census or government.

Overall, 90 percent of those surveyed called the population count ''very important'' or ''somewhat important'' for the country. Many were also familiar with the value of the census in redistributing U.S. House seats every 10 years and distributing billions of dollars in federal aid. However, 12 percent of U.S. residents said they weren't sure if they would fill out the government form; another 6 percent said they were unlikely to or definitely would not do so. These naysayers were more likely to be young adults 18-29 and lower-income people.

More than half of the non-participants said they were too busy, not interested or unfamiliar with the census. One-fourth cited distrust of government or concerns about privacy. Nearly one-third said they believe the data could be used to locate illegal immigrants or said they weren't certain if it could. Census director Robert Groves has repeatedly said the information would be kept confidential.

''In today's America, you can't reach everybody with one or two ads on two or three television networks,'' said Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League and chairman of the 2010 Census Advisory Committee. ''It is the depth and breadth, who delivers the message, where it's placed and the frequency.''

Last month, his group, the NAACP and the Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, called for more paid advertising in black community newspapers, because blacks historically have been undercounted. Meanwhile, the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders urged millions of illegal immigrants to boycott the census to protest inaction on immigration reform.

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund says it awaits government assurances that census data would be kept confidential. The AALDEF plans to release a report later this month on notable gaps in outreach in communities with sizable Asian populations, such as Chicago, northern Virginia and San Jose, Calif.

In response, the Census Bureau has been touting its $133 million advertising campaign, which includes television spots in 28 different languages, to convey the 10-question census form is safe and easy to complete. As the nation's top advertiser in the coming weeks, the agency estimates it will reach the average person 42 times with slogans such as the ''2010 census – it's in our hands.''

The ad campaign began after the Pew poll was conducted. The count begins in March. The stakes are high, with several states, including California, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts and Ohio, at risk of losing U.S. House seats, depending on how fully their residents are counted. Pew interviewed 1,504 adults by cell or home phone from Jan. 6-10. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.