Supreme Court stops Trump from adding racist census question to rig elections for GOP

The Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration’s reasoning for adding a citizenship question on the 2020 census did not pass muster, and halted the administration from adding it. However, the Court’s decision sent the case back to a lower court, meaning the question still has a chance to appear on the 2020 Census.

“For now, the question is out. It is unclear if there is enough time left to add it back in,” SCOTUSblog wrote on Twitter shortly after the ruling was announced.

Experts say the addition of the question would have led to a dramatic undercount of millions of people, especially black and Hispanic residents.

Excluding people from the 2020 census count would hurt Democrats while helping Republicans and states with larger white populations. For example, the Washington Post reports an undercount on the census could cost California as many as three House seats in Congress.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross lied to Congress about the decision to add such a question to the census, saying the idea came from the Department of Justice. In fact, emails and evidence show it was Ross and Commerce Department officials who initially floated the idea.

The Supreme Court agrees that the Trump administration lied, writing, “Several points, considered together, reveal a significant mismatch between the decision the Secretary made and the rationale he provided.”

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.