Montana libraries help citizens fill out census forms as state hopes for another Congress seat – This is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to make a difference!

Most of Montana is rural, and many residents receive their mail at a post office box. The Census bureau only sends forms to addresses, and if the letter carrier doesn’t match every post office box to the corresponding address, census forms go undelivered.

“Oftentimes, they don’t have traditional mailing addresses and as a result, they have not received the notifications from the Census and so we have about a quarter of the state that has been not getting the information,” said Montana Lieutenant Governor Mike Cooney. “Montana gets about $2 billion dollars a year from the federal government based on the Census. When we do not count a Montanan who should be counted, that equals about $20,000 over the 10-year period of the census.”

Amid the pandemic, millions of Americans have filled out the census online, taking pressure off the postal service. Montana has a problem with that too — only 59% of rural Montanans have broadband internet.

By Major Garrett CBS News

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We are Looking for Volunteers to Help Us Reach as Many Montanans as Possible. Montana Census Phone Banks on Tuesday, Sept. 15th from 5-8pm and Thursday, Sept. 24th from 5-8pm

This is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to make a difference!

Montana could lose $9.7 million per year with 1% undercount in census

“We will live with the consequences of this undercount for the next decade.” Kendra Miller Montana Districting and Apportionment Commissioner