2010 Census

The United States government conducts a census every ten years to study demographics of the population. The current census is scheduled for the year 2010 Earlier, during its preparation phase in 2009, the census drew a fair bit of criticism. An example of such a concern held by some people revolved around the fact that the 2010 census will for the first time ever consider same-sex couples as "married". In previous years, same-sex couples were listed as "unmarried partners". One cause of this in the past was due software being used to tabulate the results of the returned census cards. New software for the 2010 census is said to have solved this problem.

The 2010 census is also important as its results will help to determine the number of members serving in the House of Representatives for given areas. Because the representation in the House of Representatives is proportional to the number of constituents in each region, the census is vitally important in determining these numbers every ten years.

This year's census is particularly important due to the direct impact that it will have on the 2012 presidential election. The reason for this is again due to the importance of the census and the number of constituents living in each region having a direct impact on the number of representatives within the Electoral College.

While the first U.S. census was done in 1790, it wasn't until 1902 that the US Census Bureau became an official government entity. The bureau falls under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Commerce and is conducted under Title 13 of the US legal code.