Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin says the 2020 U.S. Census is more than just simple math: the results will make a real-life impact.
"If you don't fill out the Census, you're suppressing your own community's vote. If you don't fill out the Census, your community loses political representation and political power," says Bronin.
He used an appearance in the city Wednesday to implore Hartford residents to take part because the Constitutionally-mandated once-a-decade headcount is used to determine funding levels and the distribution of seats in Congress.
Mayor Bronin is hoping that the appearance of census takers, who fan out across Connecticut starting Thursday, will spark more participation.
The mail-in response from Hartford and other major cities so far has dragged well behind the state average.
According to 2020census.gov, Connecticut (65.8%) is above the national Census response rate (62.3%) so far.
But key cities trail the state average, including Hartford (43.7%), New Haven (49.7%) and Bridgeport (48.3%).
