[plinko]

uggghhh...and the legal bitching is soon to begin...

source

California says census missed 1.5 million residents
If true, the discrepancy could cost the state billions of dollars in federal money and perhaps an additional seat in Congress. A court battle may be possible.

By Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times

December 23, 2010, 8:39 p.m.

California officials estimate that the U.S. Census Bureau failed to count 1.5 million of the state's residents, a discrepancy that if true could cost the state billions of dollars in federal aid over the next decade and perhaps an increase in its representation in Congress.

On Tuesday, the Census Bureau released national and state population figures that declared California to have 37.3 million residents, 10% more than in 2000. That growth — based on mailed-in surveys and door-to-door interviews by census takers — roughly mirrored the nation's, but meant that for the first time since California became a state in 1850 it did not grow enough to add another member to its congressional delegation.

But according to the state Department of Finance, the state's population was 38.8 million on July 1. That figure is drawn from birth and death statistics, school-enrollment data, driver's license address changes, tax returns and Medicare enrollment, a set of data points that provides a "more refined" picture of the population, according to H.D. Palmer, a finance department spokesman.

This is likely true across the board nationally, but it'll be really interesting to see if any states take up legal challenges given how many of them are in desperate need of dollars from any source (particularly the federal government).