Census nominee rules out sampling

Robert M. Groves, a veteran survey researcher from the University of Michigan, also testified during his confirmation hearing that he remains worried about fixing a persistent undercount of hard-to-reach populations, typically minorities living in dense areas who tend to vote for Democrats.

He told the Senate Homeland Security committee that the success of the 2010 Census will hinge on an aggressive outreach campaign, but did not say whether he would push for a government halt to immigration raids, as the Census Bureau successfully did in 2000.

Groves, 60, faces a relatively smooth confirmation due partly to Democrats' strong majority in the Senate.

But that hasn't stopped House Republicans, who have been vocal in expressing concern about Groves. As a former census associate director, Groves pushed for sampling in the 1990s to make up for an undercount of millions of minorities but was later overruled by the Republican Commerce secretary, who called the move "political tampering."

Yesterday, Groves said he would not pursue statistical adjustment next year because it is now legally barred for the use of apportioning House seats. Groves also said adjustments won't be used in 2010 to redraw congressional boundaries, because there is simply no time to prepare for it.