Galvin Says He Is 'Disappointed' With Boston's Census Efforts

Facebook, Google, And Twitter Testify On Elections And Political Discourse Before House Committee — Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Bill Galvin testifies during a hearing before the National Security Subcommittee of House Oversight and Reform Committee May 22, 2019 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The subcommittee held the hearing on "Securing U.S. Election Infrastructure and Protecting Political Discourse."

Jenifer B. McKim is the interim investigations editor at the GBH News Center for Investigative Reporting. Feedback? Questions? Story ideas? Reach out to Jenifer at jenifer_mckim@wgbh.org.

August 04, 2020

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin on Tuesday said he is "disappointed" by Boston city efforts to count residents for the United States census.

While the state has counted about 65 percent of households, Boston’s response rate is just over 53 percent, according to data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.

"I'm disappointed that Boston's response has been ineffective,’’ Galvin told WGBH News. “I'm not just speaking of the mayor. The councilors are affected here also. Their districts are going to be affected by this. This is the only official count we have for the next 10 years. They need to focus on this.”

Galvin spoke to WGBH News following an announcement that the Trump administration plans to end door-to-door counting on Sept. 30, a month earlier than state and local officials expected.

Sebastian Zapata, a census liaison for the City of Boston, said the announcement is the latest challenge for the city struggling to count residents despite obstacles caused by the coronavirus.

City officials say they face challenges counting a large percentage of foreign-born residents due to language barriers and "anti-immigrant rhetoric coming out of Washington, D.C." Renters and people living in “group quarters,” including students, nursing homes and prisons, also pose challenges, officials say.

“COVID-19 has shifted the way outreach for the census is conducted, but it has not detracted from our commitment to count everyone,’’ Zapata said in a statement. “We are continuing to work hard to increase Boston's overall count and ensure we get fair representation and funding."

Galvin said he already has spoken with Boston city officials about areas that need increased efforts to count residents.

“It tends to be minority-inhabited wards,” he said, “and it tends to be of multiple dwellings. So these are all places that I think need help, and hopefully, we'll get the focus of attention on it.”

Galvin also blasted the federal action, calling it an effort to sabotage the national count and shortchange urban areas likely to vote Democratic. Lawrence, Chelsea, Everett and Worcester also had response rates of 53 percent or below, federal data shows.

Galvin said Massachusetts should go to court to fight the decision, an action that would be spearheaded by the state Office of the Attorney General.

Attorney General Maura Healey told WGBH News in a statement that she does plan to file suit.

“Donald Trump and his administration are fixated on erasing immigrant communities and depriving states with large immigrant populations of critical federal resources and equal representation in Congress,’’ Healey said in the statement. “We’re going to court to make sure everyone in Massachusetts is counted and represented in Congress.”

This article has been updated.

Jenifer B. McKim is the interim investigations editor at the GBH News Center for Investigative Reporting. Feedback? Questions? Story ideas? Reach out to Jenifer at jenifer_mckim@wgbh.org.