Politics & Government
Marietta Gets 2020 Census Kiosk At Cobb County Magistrate Court
The kiosk will give the public access to the my2020census.gov site for Census self-responses.
MARIETTA, GA — A 2020 Census kiosk is open in Marietta. It’s a desktop computer that was installed Thursday to help residents access the census site.
The kiosk is located at the Cobb County Magistrate Court, 32 Waddell St. in downtown Marietta. It’s provided by the Cobb County Public Library.
Judge Brendan F. Murphy, Chief Magistrate of Cobb County, offered to host the Census response gateway after reading about Census stations in libraries across the county. The Census kiosk is aligned with the Magistrate Court’s support for civic engagement, Judge Murphy said.
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“Like voting and jury service, the Census is a Constitutional opportunity to let your voice be heard,” Judge Murphy said in a news release. “Each day at the Magistrate Court we serve many of the most vulnerable members of our community. We are proud to partner with the Library System to ensure that our ‘hard-to-count’ friends and neighbors aren’t left behind.”
The computer was among the kiosks installed in Cobb libraries in March before the coronavirus pandemic led county officials to close the facilities. Since early July, the public has had access to Census kiosks in the libraries open under limited services operations. Funding for the Census kiosks is from a grant by Georgia Public Library Service, a unit of the Board of Regents, University System of Georgia.
As of Aug. 13, Cobb County’s Census response rate is reported at 66.4 percent – a few points higher than Georgia’s 59.2 percent and the national rate of 63.6 percent. The window for completing the 2020 Census is scheduled to close by September 30.
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Census data is used in decision-making about political boundaries for elective offices, where government funding lands and by businesses, educators, healthcare officials and others. Census under-counts have critical, long-lasting consequences for communities, Census advocates say.
Hosting the library’s Census kiosk is a good match for the Magistrate Court, Judge Murphy said, adding, “The people count at the People’s Court.”
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