Why was I selected for this test? The U.S. Census Bureau chose your address, not you personally, as part of a randomly selected sample. Your address was selected to represent a cross section of other households in your community.

By census law, refusal to answer all or part of the census carries a $100 fine. The penalty goes up to $500 for giving false answers. In 1976, Congress eliminated both the possibility of a 60-day prison sentence for noncompliance and a one-year prison term for false answers.

The Census Bureau conducts over 100 surveys in addition to the decennial census count. If your address was selected to participate in one of these surveys, we may call you to participate. Some surveys are done exclusively by phone.

The Census Bureau is dedicated to providing current facts and figures about America's people, places, and economy.

A: If you receive notice that you have been targeted to respond to the ACS and you desire to assert your right of privacy, you can voice those objections and your intent not to respond to the ACS by writing a letter to the Census Bureau.

The fine for refusing to answer a bureau survey can be as much as $5,000. But to date, nobody has been fined for failing to participate because the bureau is not in the business of prosecuting people who don't comply, bureau spokesperson Rosa Vasquez told 10 Tampa Bay in an email.

The law (Title 13, Census, Chapter 7, Subchapter II) considers three levels of punishment: failure to answer a question carries a $100 fine. Giving false answers can result in a $500 fine, and giving information to deliberately affect the count can result in a $1,000 fine or up to a year in prison.

Don't trust caller ID - scammers can use “spoofing” tools to make it appear they're calling from a real Census Bureau number. Call the National Processing Center at 800-523-3205, 800-642-0469 or 800-877-8339 (TDD/TTY) to verify that a phone survey is legitimate.

- The Constitution of the United States, Article I, Section 2. The census asks questions of people in homes and group living situations, including how many people live or stay in each home, and the sex, age and race of each person. The goal is to count everyone once, only once, and in the right place.

2. What is the penalty for not responding? The census law (Title 13, United States Code, Section 224), coupled with the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 (Title 18, Sections 3551, 3559, and 3571), provides for penalties of up to $5,000 for failure to report, and $10,000 for intentionally providing false information.

Participation is mandatory, as described in Title 13 of the U.S. Code. Refusal to respond can result in a fine. However, no one has been prosecuted for failing to respond to the census since the 1970 Census.

Am I required to fill out my 2020 Census form? Participation is mandatory, as described in Title 13 of the U.S. Code. Refusal to respond can result in a fine. However, no one has been prosecuted for failing to respond to the census since the 1970 Census.