Special to Iredell Free News

RALEIGH — The U.S. Census Bureau has announced all Census self-response and field data collection will conclude Thursday, October 15, following a recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.

To date, an estimated 30 percent of North Carolinians have yet to respond to the 2020 Census. This equates to a potential loss of $54 billion in funding over the next decade for communities across the state.

“With tomorrow’s deadline upon us, it’s critical that every North Carolinian fill out the Census,” said Gov. Roy Cooper. “Completing the Census is safe, easy and important. It takes less than 10 minutes to help shape our state’s future for the next 10 years.”

The Census will determine how much federal funding North Carolina gets for education, healthcare, transportation, disaster recovery, community service programs, economic planning and development and other critical services. A potential undercount could also determine whether North Carolina gains an additional congressional seat.

To respond to the 2020 Census visit my2020census.gov, call (844-330-2020 in English, 844-468-2020 in Spanish) or complete the Census form sent to your home and return it by mail.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau:

♦ Internet self-response will be available across the nation through October 15 until 11:59 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time (HST), (6 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on October 16). Visit my2020census.gov to respond today.

♦ Phone response will be available for its regularly scheduled time on October 15. Click HERE for schedule and a list of numbers.

♦ Responses by mail must be postmarked by October 15, 2020.

♦ Census workers will continue going door to door to resolve nonresponding addresses through the end of the day on October 15.

♦ Complete Count Committees and Census community and state-wide partners are encouraged to visit census.nc.gov to download promotional and educational materials to help ensure a complete and accurate census count across the state.