CLEVELAND, Ohio - At least some people in Northeast Ohio and maybe beyond recently received an “official document” in the mail labeled the 2020 Congressional District Census. But don’t confuse it with the real 2020 U.S. Census notices that will begin going out in the mail in mid-March.

As explained in the enclosed materials, the 2020 Congressional District Census is from the Republican National Committee, collecting information on everything from political affiliation and social media habits to thoughts on tax cuts and Russia - plus a chance to donate.

The political mailing comes as the U.S. Census Bureau and local officials are ramping up outreach efforts to make people comfortable with filling out the short 2020 census questionnaire on or around April 1.

Officials care about improving response rates for the 2020 census because doing so increases the accuracy of the count and saves the government money in not having to repeatedly try to track down non-responders. At the same time, the Census Bureau and others have cautioned people about misrepresentations, especially potential scams.

The Census Bureau - on its webpage “Avoiding Fraudulent Activity and Scams" - notes specifically that it never asks for “anything on behalf of a political party.”

The GOP’s Congressional District Census mailer does not purport to be from the U.S. Census Bureau, but nevertheless using the word census prominently has raised questions.

“When they call something a census during a census year, there is no reason to do that unless you want to be confusing," said Catherine Turcer, executive director of the government watchdog group Common Cause Ohio.

“People (initially) will get confused, and then realize it’s not the census. But why be confusing? There is no reason to do that.”

Messages were left this week with the regional communications office for the National Republican Party. But no one was made available to discuss the mailing.

The included return envelope is labeled: “Process immediately. Congressional district document enclosed."

Though the heading on the top of the survey says in all-upper case letters that it is the 2020 Congressional District Census, smaller words below make clear the political nature. The summary reads, in part, "As a key facet of our overall strategy to ensure President Trump and Republican candidates are re-elected, the Republican Party is conducting a Census of key members and supporters...”

At the end of the 41-question form is an option to check a box to donate to the Republican National Committee.

A portion of the 2020 Congressional District Census from the Republican National Committee.

Michele Pomerantz, who has been leading Complete Count efforts for Cuyahoga County, didn’t comment on the RNC mailer. But she said relieving concerns people may have is an important part of the Complete Count Committee’s work.

“No one will ask questions beyond what we are telling people what will be asked (name, age, race, etc.). The key worries for us is that if anyone asks for a Social Security number, it is not from the census. ... They shouldn’t ask anything about whether you are a U.S. citizen. That’s a red flag that it isn’t the census.”

“Take the census and don’t get scammed," Pomerantz said.

Here is a sample of a real 2020 census form.

Sample 2020 Census form.

Rich Exner, data analysis editor for cleveland.com, writes about numbers on a variety of topics. Follow on Twitter @RichExner. Find other data-related stories at cleveland.com/datacentral or use this link for census 2020 coverage.

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