To Arbin Mitchell, manager of the Navajo census office, Census 2000 was as good as it gets. We went down every road. Of course you'll miss people here and there, but I'm pretty confident we did better than 1990. Despite improved 2000 census numbers, some demographers warned that New Mexico's Native Americans were still seriously undercounted, although not as badly as in 1990. Several analysts urged release of statistically adjusted numbers that would, they contend, improve accuracy.
Some politicians dispute that.
The numbers are important because they help determine allocation of federal funds for countless programs. The data will also be used to redistrict congressional and legislative seats, among others. However, the adjusted figures are not expected to be released until after redistricting is complete, if ever. New Mexico led the nation in 1990 as the state with the largest percentage of people undercounted, 3.1 percent, according to a study authored by University of New Mexico demographer Ted Jojola. In 2000, New Mexico was sixth among states with a 1.6 percent undercount, according to disputed statistics released by a faction within the congressionally created Census Monitoring Board.