Democratic officials including Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Wednesday's report bolstered their demand for the U.S. Census Bureau to statistically adjust the 2000 census tally to account for people who might have been missed. Commerce Secretary Don Evans, who oversees the bureau, decided earlier this month not to release adjusted numbers.
Stakes are high in the sometimes arcane statistical fight.
Census figures are used to allocate federal funds and redraw the lines of political districts. Adjusting them to make up for traditional undercounts of lower-income people and ethnic minorities could increase the flow of money and political power to urban, Democratic areas. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said that his opposition to statistical adjustment remains unchanged even if allegations of a severe Nevada undercount are true. The unadjusted 2000 census found 1,998,257 Nevadans, winning the state a third Congressional seat. Democrats and Republicans have argued since then about whether the Constitution also prohibits the use of adjusted figures to redraw the lines of political districts or dole out federal aid to states.