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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, America First Legal (AFL), in partnership with Weber, Crabb & Wein, P.A., took decisive steps forward in its landmark lawsuit challenging the U.S. Census Bureau’s unlawful manipulation of the 2020 Census. AFL has filed an amended complaint adding U.S. Representative Byron Donalds (R-FL) as a plaintiff in AFL’s effort to hold the Census Bureau accountable and protect states from losing representation through unlawful statistical methods. In addition, AFL has filed a response opposing a motion to intervene by parties represented by the Elias Law Group, further underscoring the stakes of this fight.
By adding Representative Donalds—whose home state of Florida lost out on two additional House seats—AFL underscores the real-world stakes of the Census Bureau’s misconduct. The injury is not theoretical: it changed the political map of the United States and silenced the voices of American citizens.
The lawsuit seeks several forms of relief, including declaring the 2020 Census unlawful, enjoining the U.S. Census Bureau from continuing to use unlawful methods in the 2030 Census (and beyond), and further requiring the Census Bureau to produce a new 2020 Census Report that does not rely on unlawful statistical methods.
“The Constitution and laws of the United States have requirements for the Census for good reason,” said Gene Hamilton, President of America First Legal. “It determines representation, funding, and even how the president is elected. Representation must be based on real counts of real Americans.”
“The idea of a census is as old as civilization itself,” said James Rogers, Senior Counsel for America First Legal. “If the Romans could count their citizens without relying on models, the United States can, too. The Census Bureau’s job is to count real people where they actually live, and they must return to doing so.”
“Our Republic is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. But some of these people are being left out,” said Emily Percival, Senior Counsel for America First Legal. “It is vital to the existence of our democratic Republic that all people be counted and afforded adequate representation.”
“Protecting the integrity of our elections is absolutely essential to preserving our form of self-government. Our Founders made it crystal clear in the Constitution that an actual count of every person, every ten years, is used to decide representation in Congress, not flawed statistical guesswork. The blatant disregard for our Constitution and federal law by the Census Bureau in 2020 was not only highly illegal but also directly corrupted the electoral process. I am proud to join this effort alongside America First Legal to uphold our Constitution and defend government of the people, by the people, for the people,” said Representative Donalds.
America First Legal will continue its fight to protect election integrity and to oppose those who would manipulate the law for their own political gain. Our Republic depends on faithful adherence to the Constitution’s requirement of actual enumeration. No American should ever have their voice quieted, or even silenced, because bureaucrats chose to betray the Constitution.
Read the amended complaint here.
Read the opposition to the motion to intervene here.
Read more about AFL’s effort to hold the U.S. Census Bureau accountable here.
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