Section 1: It is the conclusion of the legislature that in order to obtain accurate, detailed, and current information on the residents of this state, the state should conduct a census and not rely solely on the census conducted by the federal government, especially given the admitted errors the Census Bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce has made in overcounting and undercounting multiple states, as well as its artificial creation of racial and ethnic groups that are intended to divide Americans. Accurate population information collected by this state is needed in order to effectively implement and administer multiple state programs, requirements, and benefits, including in education, public assistance, elections, law enforcement, appropriations, taxes, and other governmental functions.
Section 2: During each year that ends in zero [and/or five], the [secretary of state, state treasurer, state auditor or other appropriate state agency] shall take a census of the residents of the state of [name of state]. The census conducted in the year that ends in zero [and/or five] shall be completed no later than December 31 of that year.*
*NOTE: Section 2 provides states with the option of conducting a census every ten years or every five years.
Section 3: The census shall include a question on citizenship and a tabulation of the number of United States citizens residing in this state, as well as a tabulation of the number of noncitizens residing in this state. If an individual is not a citizen of the United States, the census shall include a question on his or her nationality. The census shall not include any questions on race or ethnicity.
Section 4: The [state agency] shall promulgate the procedures and methods used in the census, which shall be designed so that the [state agency] can determine, among other demographic data, the number of citizens and noncitizens present in the state and in all political jurisdictions within the state at the smallest geographic area possible, including, but not limited to, school board, town, city, and county commission districts; state and congressional legislative districts, and all other political districts and subdivisions within this state.
Section 5: The population used in redistricting to designate the boundaries of all political districts in this state shall be the citizen population. Such districts shall be as equal as possible according to their citizen populations, taking into account all other redistricting requirements and standards of applicable state law.
Section 6: To the extent needed, [state agency] may consider the most current data provided by the census conducted by the Census Bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce, with the exception of any information based on racial and ethnicity classifications. However, the population data collected by [state agency] shall be the data relied upon by all judicial, legislative, and executive agencies within this state in case of any conflict with the information provided by the Census Bureau.
