A preliminary injunction by a U.S. District Court Judge in California has extended the 2020 Census data collection period from September 30 until the end of October.

The ruling was handed down last Thursday after civil rights organizations and local governments sued the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Commerce, which oversees the Census Bureau.  Local governments and civil rights organizations argued that more time was needed to complete an accurate count.

Georgia’s self-response rate is currently at 61.9%, but Chattooga County is lagging behind at only a 52.5% self-response rate.  Ten years ago, the last time the census was taken, Chattooga County had a self-response rate of 61.1%.

With the added time from the U.S. District Court ruling, you still have time to complete the census.  It’s easy and only takes a few minutes. To complete the Census, you can go online to 2020census.gov or call 844-330-2020.