With all the technology available to the Government Accountability Office, it's still a surprise that the 2010 census is in trouble. The annual count has fallen way behind schedule because of technology glitches. The GAO lists the population count as one of the 13 urgent issues requiring immediate attention in the first year of the Obama administration. It seems the technology that should make the count easier, is actually making it tougher.

With only a year to go before the count begins, the U.S. Census Bureau has a long way to go in using technology to get it right. It's already scuttled the idea of using handheld computers to count people, and there are plenty of questions about whether the technology it has is up to the task of counting 300 million people.

Why should you care? The census provides the foundation for computing many economic statistics, including the unemployment and poverty rates, and is the basis for Congressional redistricting. Census data are also used to allocate money to states and local areas. Minorities and city dwellers are more likely to be undercounted by the census. And an inaccurate count can have serious economic consequences.

For more on the decennial count:
- see this New York Times article