
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 19, 1991                   TAG: 9104190233
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

SURVEY: CENSUS OFF BY 6.3 MILLION

The 1990 census missed up to 6.3 million people, including a disproportionate number of blacks and Hispanics, the Census Bureau said Thursday.

That estimate is from a survey taken to judge the accuracy of the census. It is unlikely to change the original 1990 count - 248.7 million people. But government officials could use the estimate to adjust the proportion and location of minorities.

The survey estimated the U.S. population at between 253 million and 255 million - which indicates about 2 percent of the population wasn't counted. It also found that counters may have skipped 5.6 percent of America's blacks and 6.1 percent of its Hispanics.

Rep. Tom Sawyer, D-Ohio, chairman of the House census and population subcommittee, said the survey numbers make it more likely the government will adjust the census.

A dozen cities have complained in a lawsuit that the count was too low and they want the numbers adjusted. A federal court has ordered Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher to decide by July 15 if such an adjustment will be made.

An assistant census director, Peter Bounpane, defended the Census Bureau's work. "In a country like the United States, where people are free and living arrangements are variable, it is very difficult to take a census," he said.

by CNB