Is it 2010 yet? Why are they starting the census early?
The actual census is a huge, complex project and requires a lot of preparatory work.
By law the actual count will take place 2010 but you can't just go out the morning of the census and start counting people that walk by. You have to know where the people live beforehand and there is no single, up to date data base available with accurate and complete information. The data that is available from other sources is often partial, incomplete and in dissimilar formats.
Remember, people who must be counted live in a variety of places other than houses and apartments; dorms, church annexes, boats, dorms, tents, remote mountain cabins, forest camps, RV's and travel trailers, 18 wheelers, utility sheds, abandoned and condemned buildings, hobo jungles, etc. The only way to know if you have made the most accurate and complete count practical is to build your own data base, structure by structure, street by street, down every dirt road and forest path.
Once you have a data base of the locations where people live you are ready to perform an actual count at those locations.
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Nah. The census workers were out and about this summer verifying mailing addresses for sending the 2010 census form. Most of them are just normal (non-Acorn) folks, some of them veterans and retirees, trying to make a little extra income.