The census is basically the DNA for our democracy. It is the baseline for which so many things are done. The census determines how $675 billion is distributed to states and localities. The census determines how legislative districts are drawn. The census determines the composition of the Electoral College. So if this question about citizenship is added to the census, places like California and New York and Texas — which actually, funnily enough, is a red state — they could receive fewer members of Congress, they could have less influence in the Electoral College, they could have less money going to their states. And then places like Kansas, where there are fewer immigrants, where it’s a lot whiter and more Republican, they’re going to have more political power if this question about citizenship is added to the census like Kris Kobach wants.

Ari Berman on why the census matters (Kris Kobach, Kansas secretary of state, is an advocate for a question citizenship on the census)

The GOP’s Plot to Rig the Census Should Be a National Scandal

The commerce secretary lied under oath about a new policy that could rob Democratic states of power: asking people if they are American citizens.

pewresearch:

Check boxes for same-sex couples will be offered in the 2020 census in an attempt to fix a long-standing problem of Census Bureau overcounts of these couples. In addition, the census will ask those who check the white or black race boxes to say more about their national origins.

Gearing up for the 2020 Census – District Dispatch

libraryadvocates:

The decennial count of all U.S. residents is a long tradition: required
by the U.S. Constitution to determine representation in Congress and the
Electoral College, the Census also is key
to the allocation of billions of dollars in federal funding to states
and localities and to the production of widely-used datasets. However,
each decade brings new innovations and challenges. In 2020, the Census
will be conducted primarily online for the first time.

Like past
e-government efforts, this likely will place additional demands on
library staff and technology resources to assist people in participating
in the Census online or via another method of their choosing. It also
presents an opportunity to increase public awareness and use of Census
data.

Gearing up for the 2020 Census – District Dispatch