CENSUS 2000 ADVANCE LETTER MAILING
February 26, 2000
The Census Bureau is confident that the advance letter alerting the American public to the importance of the Census will be delivered.
Last Tuesday, we received information from the United States Postal Service (USPS) that there is a problem with the house number portion of the address for the advance letters scheduled to be mailed out in rural areas on March 1st and in urban areas on March 6th. An extra digit was erroneously inserted in front of the house number on the address of the advance letters. For example, a letter with the correct address of 101 Main Street would incorrectly appear as
1101 Main Street. The extra digit is a code which is used to identify the type of mailing address. The extra digit could be any number between 1 and 5, although most often the extra digit will be a 1.
What We Are Doing
We have determined that the problem will not interfere with the delivery of the advance letters. The USPS has told us that they can deliver the advance letters because the advance letter includes a postal bar code that is used by USPS automated equipment to sort the mail. The bar code is correctly imprinted on the advance letter. This bar code is the actual basis for most USPS delivery, not the printed address.
No Effect on Other Mailings
We have investigated this situation and determined that this printing problem does not affect the production, mailing or delivery of any census mail; this includes the census questionnaires. The printing of the advance letters is an operation independent of the printing of the other census forms and questionnaires.
Purpose of Advance Letter
The advance letter is the vehicle that is used to let respondents know that a census questionnaire will be in the mail shortly. It is also used to enable households to request a questionnaire in Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese or Tagalog.
What the American Public Should Do
The American public should open the letter and read the message. Those who need a questionnaire in one of five languages -- Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese or Tagalog -- may request it by checking the appropriate box on the letter and returning it in the enclosed postage-paid envelope.
