Bad programming at the big census server farm in the sky. (well, in Jeffersonville, IN, just north of Louisville...) When you are slicing and dicing data from multiple sources, like they did to build the address database, you are supposed to scrub it for dupes. In your case, the algorithm apparently did not recognize it as a dupe. Any differences at all in the structures of the printed names, street names, addresses, or zip suffix?
Same basic explanation as to why you sometimes get duplicate junk mail from the same mailing house.
Could be a Census mistake, or for some reason they may believe there may be an apartment or other dwelling at the same address. Use one form if you have a singles domicile at your address.
They will be sending census takers out to all the homes that doesn't send their forms back. Just fill out one form and see if they show up at your house later to check on why the other was not filled out.
Or you might want to fill out one form and send both back with a note of explanation that you were sent two.
Anyone know what's legally permitted to ask? I remember from school that the goal is to count the people, so they can move the congressional districts around and properly represent the people. Other than the number of people living at the residence, what other informatiin is legally required?
there are only 10 questions this year. There is no long form. I probably have the form in my mail downstairs, but I haven't looked at Friday's mail yet.
There is an ongoing survey, the name of which I forget, that ask loads of questions, that goes to 1 or 2 percent of homes, something like that, which they use for lots of worthwhile reasons like planning for future needed govt. services. There isn't much that is not permitted to ask. You don't have to answer any but the 10 questions on the actual census form, I think.
That can get into a long argument into what is Constitutional vs. what is legal. The nosy nannies think they need to know and control everything. For our own good, of course.
Probably fill both with same info and send in. If you only do one you'll probably get a visit for the other and if you try to contact them about them sending you 2 forms it will probably cost you a lot of time as you get drawn into the bureaucratic morass.
The constitutional requirement is to count noses, nothing more. But Congress did pass a law at some point, allowing them to ask all sorts of other questions. For Our Own Good, of course, so they could properly pass out all the 'free' federal money that never should have been collected in the first place. A favorite pet peeve of mine- they steal our money, then give some back, minus their cut of course, and they have the sheeple so well conditioned that they are grateful to get it. Most of the stuff the feds give aid money to state and local governments for, should have been financed at the local level in the first place. (And if the people that benefit from a service are not willing to pay for it, well, maybe it shouldn't happen?)
Making such a high percentage of the tax money flow through Washington is nothing but a power grab, making state and local governments close to irrelevant. Getting all that keen demographic data from the census process may make their job easier, but much of what they ask for is none of their damn business.
And on a pragmatic side rant, as we approach April 15- since the power grab by Washington is long since a fait accompli, why do we still need to file multiple tax returns? (especially since many states and localities now require duplicates of some of the federal forms with their returns.) Close to 2/3 of all returns are now e-filed, either directly or through a commercial preparer. Just have one big computer in the sky, and dole out the money based on address of the filer. For the logo of this new system, I suggest the taxman and his ax-man sidekick from the 'Hagar the Horrible' comic strip.
Mebbe he got a fake from somebody trying to do a mass ID theft. Wonder what the return address on the envelope was? The local cops would be clueless as to what to do about it. But if he wasn't BS'ing, and actually did get a fake form, I'm sure Census Bureau and Postal Inspectors would love to see it.
Could be since there are duplicate bar codes it's the QA form mailed at the same time that should have been mailed later. If that's it, it's a statistical sampling designed to check consistency of responses over a small subsample.
Alternatively, if you're really interested, you could try the hotline...
or go to and see if their's a FAQ that answers the specific question...
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