By
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Americans living in urban areas tended to be overlooked more often in the 2000 census than people in other parts of the country, a Democratic-backed report released yesterday concluded.
The report, which looked at selected urban areas in 10 states, estimated that cities like Los Angeles, Detroit and Baltimore each had net undercount rates higher than the rest of their respective states.
The study from members of the U.S. Census Monitoring Board appointed by former President Clinton was not endorsed by the Census Bureau, and was strongly criticized by board members appointed by the Republican-controlled Congress.
The bureau has said there was a net national undercount of 1.2 percent of the country's 281 million people in 2000, or about 3.2 million. That was lower than the 1.6 percent undercount in 1990, or about 4 million then.
Bureau officials said more analysis must be done before they can determine whether undercount estimates on the state and local level are accurate enough to be made public - if at all.
Democrats and civil rights groups want the Bush administration to release a second set of figures - adjusted using statistical sampling - that they contend would make up for groups that are typically missed including minorities, the poor and children.
"We released this data in the interest of transparency and scientific discussion and hope that its use will help lead to greater accuracy in the census," said Gilbert Casellas, co-chair for the Democratic members.
The administration cited the declining national undercount as a sign that the 2000 head count was "the most accurate in history." Republicans also contend adjustment would insert more errors into the census.
