The framers of the Constitution of the United States chose the population to be the basis for sharing political power, not wealth or land.
“Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which might be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers…”
The Constitution of the United States, Article I, Section 2.
A census aims to count the entire population of a country, and at the location where each person usually lives.
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.
