WASHINGTON, D.C. (KFGO) – After the 2020 Census, the once-in-a-decade head count that is used to allocate political power and federal funding to the states, Minnesota was allocated the 435th and final congressional seat in the House of Representatives, preserving the number of seats it has held since 1960. If Minnesota had counted just 26 fewer people, that seat would have gone to New York.
But according to a new report from the Census Bureau, a more than 3% overcount in Minnesota’s final census numbers amounted to around 219,000 residents.
Overcounts suggest people who were counted more than once, as for example, children of divorced parents who share custody or people with vacation homes.
Minnesota is one of eight states that had statistically significant overcounts according to the survey. Six states had undercounts that in some cases (Texas and Florida) cost them congressional seats and will short-change them of federal funding in the current decade. Nothing can be done at this point to change how many congressional seats are allocated, and neither can the data used for redrawing congressional districts be adjusted until after the next census, in 2030.
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