BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Even counting becomes more difficult during a pandemic.
With the spread of coronavirus, Massachusetts Secretary of State Bill Galvin is concerned that the virus could affect the 2020 census.
The census, which happens every ten years, helps determine a range of things, including representation in Congress and the division of federal funds.
But with college students being sent home because of COVID-19 concerns, Galvin said, Massachusetts' count could be thrown off.
"The decision of many universities and colleges to cease operations, and in fact encourage their students to leave the state, couldn't come at a worse time," Galvin told reporters Thursday. "We had already reached out to a number of universities to try to make sure that we counted especially their non-campus residents."
Galvin has asked the Census Bureau to consider accepting administrative records for those on- and off-campus college students, in place of an actual head count.
WBZ NewsRadio's Karyn Regal (@Karynregal) reports
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