The Supreme Court has ruled census field operations can end early, batting aside warnings that ending early could lead to an undercount of minorities.

As per the Supreme Court ruling the census will be continued until October 31, reported Al Jazeera.

Winding down data collection by September 30 was first announced by the Census Bureau on August 3, a month earlier than what was first scheduled.

The emergency order came after a federal appeals court in California denied a request from the administration. It seeks to reverse a lower court's order requiring the count to continue until the end of through October instead of the October 5 deadline, said The Hill.

According to Associated Press, they argued that the headcount had to be finished right away. The Census Bureau also has a year-end deadline to compute the number of apportioned congressional seats.

The administration was hoping that by year's end, there will be figures deciding how many seats each state gets.

In addition to that, they also said in their filing last week that the shorter window was needed by the Commerce Department. Wrapping up operating in time will allow it to report the results to the White House in time for the end-of-year deadline.

Pushback on Census Halt

Local governments and civil rights groups have sued the Trump administration for trying to end the census early. They said minorities and other hard-to-count communities will be missed if the head count were to end early.

In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that "harms caused by rushing this year's census count are irreparable."

She added that deadlines were "not a cost worth paying" at the expense of the head count's accuracy.

The other justices did not disclose their votes nor did they express their reasons for voting. This is often the case with emergency orders.

While the decision was not what the plaintiffs were hoping for, it still gives them two extra weeks to continue with the head count.

Melissa Sherry, one of the attorneys for the coalition said the extra two weeks is still a step towards more accurate data. "Every day has mattered, and the Supreme Court's order staying the preliminary injunction does not erase the tremendous progress," she said.

The case challenging the Census Bureau's decision to end the census early is still making its way through the courts, giving them hope.

Importance of Census Data

Data gathered during the census has many important uses in the government. Coming from the nation's largest statistical association, it has to come with the highest quality of data.

But questions are being raised as to how accurate the information is being gathered. Inaccurate data could lead to an undercut in federal funding or lack of representation in congress.

A massive undercut is expected, and it does not just cut out undocumented immigrants. There is a chance that it can even exclude documented immigrants.

If the administration insists on sticking to the deadline, they will end up controlling the numbers used for apportionment, regardless of who wins the coming elections.

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