Census Success: New York State Surpasses 2000 Census Mail Participation Rate

ALBANY, NY (04/29/2010)(readMedia)-- Secretary of State Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez announced today that New York state has surpassed its mail participation rate for the census from 10 years ago. Thus far, 67 percent of New Yorkers have returned their census questionnaires through the mail, one percent more than in 2000.

Since last week, three additional New York counties – Orange, Richmond (Staten Island) and Wyoming – have reached or surpassed their 2000 mail participation rates, meaning half (30) of the counties for which participation data is currently available (60) have reached or surpassed their 2000 rates. The national pace is at 72 percent, or exactly what it was 10 years ago. The Secretary of State expects the final mail participation tally to be released in the next few days.

Earlier this year, New York state awarded $2 million in grants to more than 80 community groups and local governments to ensure every New Yorker is counted during the census. The awards fund public education, community outreach and other activities targeted at hard-to-count and low response rate populations for promoting awareness, improving questionnaire mail-back rates and encouraging cooperation with census takers.

Governor David A. Paterson said: "Surpassing New York's census participation rate from a decade ago took hard work and dedication, and I would like to thank both the community and civic groups and the millions of the New Yorkers who sent back their forms. As the census moves from a mail operation to a door-to-door operation, I encourage New Yorkers to be courteous and cooperative to census workers. Remember: your answers are confidential and cannot be shared among government agencies, no matter if you sent the form in by mail or if you give answers to an enumerator at your front door."

"For months, we have heard about anti-government sentiment and anti-immigration fervor, not to mention a high rate of foreclosures, being obstacles to successful census. With these latest results, we know for certain that New Yorkers have taken their responsibility to be counted seriously, and they did so in record numbers," Secretary Cortés-Vázquez said. "I would like to thank the roughly 13 million New Yorkers who have participated in the census thus far, including a record five million in New York City alone. I would also like to thank the countless community, grassroots and media organizations who have promoted the census these past few months, as their work will translate into better schools, hospitals and roads for the people in their communities."

This weekend census workers will begin going door-to-door across the country to count those who have yet to return their questionnaires. Census workers will carry ID badges, will help individuals fill out the 10 census questions at their door (i.e., they will not ask to enter your home) and will not share individuals' answers with anyone else.

To view a complete list of 2010 census participation rates by state, county and community, please visit http://2010.census.gov/2010census/take10map. For more information on census updates and events in New York state, please visit www.census2010.ny.gov.

###Additional news available at http://www.dos.state.ny.us/about/new2.htm.

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