BATON ROUGE - The U.S. 2020 Census filing deadline was pushed back after a federal judge said stopping the count any sooner would produce inaccurate results.

The deadline was delayed from Sept. 30 to Oct. 31.

Governor John Bel Edwards released a statement on the extended filing deadline Friday afternoon.

“We are excited that many more people now have time to complete their census form, if they have not done so already, “ said Gov. Edwards. “It’s very important that everyone in every household be counted, from the youngest to the oldest. This opportunity only comes once every 10 years. Louisiana is currently lagging behind the rest of the country in our participation rate, jeopardizing millions of federal dollars to improve our communities. The census will determine how we are represented in Congress and how much in federal funding our state will receive for vital services such as health care, education and roads. Now is the time for everyone to be counted.” 

For more information about the 2020 U.S. Census, click here.