By: Zachary Pottle, Contributing Writer
The Republican Party sends out fundraising mailers that closely resemble U.S. Census forms only weeks prior to the actual census, confusing voters from both parties.
Political parties have been known to go about asking voters for money in strange ways, but the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) “fake-census” materials are especially hard to defend. In recent weeks, the RNC sent fundraising forms to voters across the country that closely resemble actual Congressional Census forms spanning from California to Montana – a strategy that some are saying may skew results of the upcoming 2020 Congressional District Census. In a report by the Los Angeles Times, the U.S. representative of California, Katie Porter, stated she felt that voters would “toss their actual Census envelope because they’ve already filled this one out,” and that “there is a real risk of harm here.”
The intentionally deceptive forms were mailed out in envelopes labeled “2020 Congressional District Census” and followed by a very noticeable “DO NOT DESTROY/OFFICIAL DOCUMENT,” both of which were meant to save the envelope from the junk mail pile. Inside the envelope was a questionnaire, printed on the same blue paper familiar to many that have filled out a census before. However, these questionnaires contained no actual census questions, but rather questions pertaining to President Trump’s upcoming run for re-election. One question specifically asked if the recipient “support[s]President Trump’s strong stance in demanding that our nation builds a border wall.”
Montana’s Census and Economic Information Center states that “Official U.S. Census Bureau surveys will never ask respondents for money, and will always be postmarked from the U.S. Department of Commerce.”
Perhaps the most shocking aspect of these forms came at the bottom of the questionnaire where, separate from the request for a campaign contribution, there was a box labeled: “I cannot send a donation at that level right now… but I am enclosing $15 to help pay for the cost of processing my Census Document.” As the recipients of these misleading forms may have been under the impression that they were filling out a Congressional Census form, the Democratic National Committee stated that the money is “a political donation disguised as a government processing fee,” which is something currently being discussed in a federal hearing with the Census Bureau.
Democratic National Committee spokesman, Daniel Wessel, called the census forms “intentionally deceptive.”
Such deception by the RNC raises many questions among both Democrats and Republicans alike, with one question emerging as a commonality between the two: why? What does the RNC gain from sending out fake census forms? The answer to these questions may be as simple as the RNC trying to reach as many voters as possible. After all, an envelope labeled “Donate Money to Donald Trump” will undoubtedly be opened by far fewer people than one labeled as the United States Census.
Ronna Romney McDaniel, leader of the Republican National Committee, maintains her statement that the RNC fundraising forms were clearly labeled and not misleading.
The RNC has commented on these forms, with officials stating that the documents were clearly labeled as RNC documents. The questionnaire does include a section of fine print towards the top identifying it as Republican mail, and another, smaller section towards the bottom noting that the forms have been paid for by the Republican National Committee. Many still believe the documents are in clear violation of the constitution and are cautioning citizens to read their mail carefully.
