The upcoming 2020 Census, used to set congressional districts and determine some federal spending, could be mired in fraud and double counting of people because systems to catch problems won’t be tested in time, according to top congressional lawmakers.

They are raising concerns that the Census, already beleaguered by technical issues, won’t be “fair and accurate.”

In a letter to the bureau, Sen. Ron Johnson and Rep. Trey Gowdy cited a Government Accountability Office report that said letting Americans file responses online will raise the “likelihood that households will submit duplicate legitimate responses and the likelihood of fraudulent responses.”

Johnson, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Gowdy, chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said they are concerned that systems to catch the fraud won’t be ready when the results start pouring in.

“The GAO has raised concerns that the Bureau has yet to determine important details about what fraud and duplication metrics these tests will include,” wrote the two.

“Some of the systems needed to test,” they added, “will not be fully tested prior to the 2020 Census. If the Bureau does not execute these systems in a timely and effective manner, or if it is not prepared for the volume of responses the tests will need to verify, duplicate or fraudulent responses may be included in the final population count.”



Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com