Census nominee pledges ‘nonpartisan' count

US-- Robert Groves, President Obama's nominee to be the next director of the US Census Bureau, has said he will not allow the 2010 count to become politicised, and ruled out the use of statistical sampling to boost undercounted minorities.

At his confirmation hearing on Friday, Groves moved to allay Republican concerns that he would seek to introduce sampling to bolster counts for Democrat-supporting groups that tend to be undercounted. These are largely inner-city minorities that may be missed from the count due to language barriers or home displacement.

Groves said he agreed with Gary Locke, the new secretary of the Department of Commerce that “statistical adjustment of the census is eliminated as an option for reapportionment and further that statistical adjustment will not be used for redistricting”. He added that earlier decisions meant that no infrastructure was in place for such adjustments to be implemented in time for the 2010 count in any case.

He also highlighted the importance of official statistics remaining nonpartisan and independent. Groves said: “I am pursuing this post because I believe strongly that this country needs an objective, nonpartisan, professional Census Bureau. If confirmed, I will give my full energy toward that end.”

There has already been controversy over this issue, following suggestions that the new director would report directly to the White House rather than the Department of Commerce. President Obama's first nomination as Commerce Secretary, Republican Judd Gregg, withdrew in March citing “irreconcilable conflicts” over the census among his reasons.

Concerns remain over how the bureau's policies might change beyond 2010 if Groves – who advocated the use of sampling when he was an associate director of the bureau during George Bush Senior's presidency – is confirmed as the new director.

His nomination is currently undergoing consideration by the Senate's committee on homeland security and governmental affairs.

Author: Robert Bain

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