2018 Census End-to-End Test: Results & Challenges for the 2020 Census

The 2018 End-to-End (E2E) Census Test was the most comprehensive evaluation of census operations and systems before early 2020 Census operations begin in January 2020. The test illuminated challenges related to the recruitment, hiring, and training of enumerators; the identification of vacant housing units; the preparation and scaling-up of the Information Technology (IT) systems; and heightened distrust and fear as a result of the proposal of the citizenship question (which was later rejected). While the Census Bureau has made progress in implementing mitigation and contingency plans to address risks since the test, the 2020 Census remains on the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO’s) list of high-risk projects.