The 2010 census is coming up, as the Constitution requires. And since counting the population of one of the geographically least dense, but largest in terms of population and area, countries isn’t exactly an easy task, the US Census Bureau typically employs a number of organizations to help them with the counting by recruiting people; according to one FOX News report, approximately 1.4 million workers are required to get an accurate census of the population; this works out to about one worker for every 300 people. So obviously some outside assistance is needed. And according to the same report, one of the organizations the Census Bureau is working with is ACORN, famed among conservatives for supposed voter fraud (more on that below) during the 2008 elections. So naturally conservatives are reacting to this with varying degrees of concern, from utterly ignoring it to the outright crazy. Of particular note here is that Representative Bachmann is advocating not completely filling out the Census form, which may be illegal according to a Bureau worker mentioned in the article; the worker says that current census law mandates that all citizens fill out the form completely, not just provide the number of people occupying the building. Rep. Bachmann doesn’t seem to realize that the Constitution isn’t the only source of law that deals with the census. According to 13 USC section 221,

Whoever, being over eighteen years of age, refuses or willfully neglects … to answer, to the best of his knowledge, any of the questions on any schedule submitted to him in connection with any census or survey provided for by subchapters I, II, IV, and V of chapter 5 of this title … shall be fined not more than $100.

So Representative Bachmann doesn’t have a legal leg to stand on. The questions are authorized, and so she has to fill them out.

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