AMERICA TELLS NEXT PRESIDENT "NO" TO SENDING SAMPLED CENSUS DATA TO STATES
National Poll Makes Clear - Across-the-Board Opposition to Sampled Census

JANUARY 17, 2000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

  CONTACT: ROB GEIST
  Craig Shirley & Associates
  (800) 536-5920

SLF NEWS RELEASE

ATLANTA:  The Southeastern Legal Foundation today released results of a nationwide poll conducted between January 9-12 on the question of whether the next President should send statistically sampled Census 2000 figures to the states in January 2001.  According to the survey of 1,000 voters nationwide, 56.4 percent say the next President should send only actual head count numbers.  The scientific survey revealed several interesting highlights...

When asked, "It will be our next President's responsibility to release the 2000 Census numbers to individual states.  The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Census Bureau must use population numbers that are attained from an actual head count as in previous years, when they divide up the 435 seats of Congress.  However, the Congress has authorized a dual census for this year where one set of numbers will be the actual population count, and one set of numbers will estimate up to 15 percent of the population through statistical sampling.  Knowing this, which sets of numbers should our next President release to the states that will more accurately represent the real population figures in the United States?"  Americans from across demographic, ideological, ethnic, and sociological lines opposed the sampling plan.  Among self-identified Democrats, 57.9 percent oppose sending the sampled numbers to the states, while 56.3 percent of self-identified Republicans and 56.5 percent of self-identified independents also oppose sending sampled census numbers to the states.

Despite the racially divisive rhetoric employed by Clinton and his cohorts, including Vice President Gore, with minority groups across the nation, 50 percent of African-Americans and 57.6 percent of Hispanics also oppose the plan.

"One of the first and most important duties of the next President will be to decide which set of census numbers -- actual head count, statistical sampling, or both -- to send to the states for federal and state legislative redistricting," said Matthew J. Glavin, SLF President, who was a named plaintiff in the successful 1999 U.S. Supreme Court decision which declared the Clinton sampling plan illegal for purposes of congressional apportionment among the states.  "Democratic presidential candidates Gore and Bradley have made clear that they intend to send both sets of numbers to the states, along with GOP candidate John McCain.  All other GOP presidential candidates have promised to send only the constitutional actual head count numbers to the states, except for Texas Gov. George W. Bush.  Governor Bush, the American people have spoken, the U.S. Supreme Court has spoken, and now it's your turn -- American voters deserve a definitive answer to this critical question."

The poll of 1,000 American voters was conducted by John McLaughlin & Associates, Inc., from January 9-12. 39.2 percent of those polled were self-identified Democrats, 33.4 percent were self-identified Republicans, and 20.7 percent were self-identified independents.  The poll had a +/- 3.1 percent margin of error, with a 95 percent confidence interval.

Southeastern Legal Foundation, founded in 1976, is the Atlanta-based public interest law firm which won the 1999 U.S. Supreme Court decision (Glavin, et al. v. Clinton, et al.) banning the use of sampling for congressional apportionment.

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