AG Marshall: Census lawsuit ‘about abiding by the rules Congress has already set’

Last week, the Alabama Attorney General’s office announced it was partnering with U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) in a suit against the U.S. Census Bureau to prevent the Census data from allegedly being manipulated, as the results are slow-walked to the individual states.

During an appearance on Mobile radio’s FM Talk 106.5, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall warned the Census Bureau was attempting to “scramble” data in the name of privacy.

If successful, such an effort could strip the transparency of how the government agency arrived at conclusions with its findings.

“This is really our phase two of our Census litigation, the first of which we talked about at length with you before, which is the case with Mo Brooks, and we’re attempting to deal directly with the issue of whether Alabama may lose a congressional seat if we count those who are in the country unlawfully,” he said. “This is really about the Census Bureau abiding by the rules that Congress has already set, and that is the fact they have long since passed the deadline for providing states the Census data. And one of the things we think they are doing through basically a mathematical calculation and algorithm they are using under the guise of privacy is really going to scramble the data in a way states like Alabama can’t dive in to understand exactly what they’ve done. So, this is again an effort for us to be proactive, to ensure we’re protecting Alabama’s interests and also make sure the Census Bureau is abiding by the law and the Constitution in what they are required to do.”

According to Marshall, the remaining congressional seat could come down to Alabama and New York State. Given New York is traditionally a Democrat-voting state, the Biden administration could be working to give the Empire State the additional seat in the U.S. House of Represenatives.

“This is really our chance for, I think we said it in the complaint, before they scramble the egg, which is going to allow the data to be in a format that we can’t really dive into it — for us to be able to validate whether Alabama has been treated fairly or not,” Marshall added.

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly, and host of Mobile’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on FM Talk 106.5.