Census 2010 can count on controversy

[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/POLITICS/12/16/census.minorities/story.morial.gi.jpg caption="National Urban League President Marc Morial says action is needed to ensure a complete census count in 2010." width=300 height=169]

Audrey Singer
Special to CNN

It's almost that time: the once-a-decade-moment when the U.S. Bureau of the Census tries to determine the population.

Counting more than 300 million residents is a complex and costly operation (an estimated $14 billion), but the results yield the basis for how we apportion Congress, distribute more than $400 billion in federal funds and understand basic changes to the number and geographic distribution of U.S. residents.

The largest challenge that the Census Bureau faces is ensuring everyone is counted, regardless of where they live, who they live with and perhaps most controversially, regardless of whether they are authorized to live in the United States.

Most households will receive a census form by mail in mid-March to be filled out as of Census Day, April 1. First results of state counts for redistricting purposes must be delivered by December 31. The rest of the results will be released over a period of time that ends in 2013.

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