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Sen. King Urges Trump Administration To Reverse Decision To End Census Efforts Early

Matt Rourke
/
AP Images
In a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, the senators write that cutting the count short by a month will be devastating to census accuracy and will disproportionately impact hard-to-count communities.

U.S. independent Sen. Angus King is among two dozen Senators urging the Trump Administration to reverse the decision to end Census data collection one month early. In a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, the Senators write that cutting the count short by a month will be devastating to census accuracy and will disproportionately impact hard-to-count communities.

On Monday’s Maine Calling, King said that he puzzled by the decision: “Just to say, arbitrarily, say, ‘we're Done.’ Come on, let's finish, this is really important. This defines apportionment among the states and voting and has all kinds of ramifications.”

King says it appears that the Trump Administration is trying to undercount the census. He says this doesn't meet the requirements of the Constitution or fairness.

Ed is a Maine native who spent his early childhood in Livermore Falls before moving to Farmington. He graduated from Mount Blue High School in 1970 before going to the University of Maine at Orono where he received his BA in speech in 1974 with a broadcast concentration. It was during that time that he first became involved with public broadcasting. He served as an intern for what was then called MPBN TV and also did volunteer work for MPBN Radio.