ACT BY OCTOBER 13: Protect Racial Data and Political Representation
Public comments must be received by October 13, 2026.
Docket No. USBC-2026-0628; RIN 0607-AA75
The Census Bureau proposes to prohibit race and ethnicity questions on the decennial census short-form questionnaire and other questionnaires used to enumerate the population. A separate part of the proposal would exclude many noncitizen residents from the population used to apportion seats in Congress.
Removing racial questions will not remove racial inequality. It will make that inequality harder to document and easier to deny. Excluding residents from the apportionment count would also affect whose communities receive political representation.
These proposals deserve a clear response: retain race and ethnicity questions and count every usual resident.
The proposal would still permit demographic questions on the American Community Survey and the use of administrative records. But those sources do not provide the same direct, nationwide collection of self-identified racial and ethnic information through the decennial census. Communities need reliable population data to document disparities in voting, health, housing, education, employment, and access to public resources.
Please comment before October 13 and encourage others to do the same.
- Read the proposed rule.
- Use the sample comment on Racism.org. Copy it, then add two or three sentences explaining why racial and ethnic data matter to you, your community, your organization, or the people you serve.
- Submit your personalized comment at Regulations.gov.
- Share the sample comment and submission link with your networks.
You may comment anonymously. The Bureau instructs anonymous commenters to enter “N/A” in required identifying fields. You do not have to provide a telephone number. Do not include personal information in your comment or attachments that you do not want made public.
Read my own comment to the Census Bureau for a fuller explanation of why these proposals should be withdrawn.
For Tribal Nations and Tribal-serving organizations:NCAI identifies a separate November 2, 2026, deadline for written tribal consultation comments. The general public comment deadline remains October 13.
