Guest Editorial: Stand up and be counted

Sheila M. Stearns

Presiding Officer, Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission

As the country celebrates its birth as a nation, one of the most patriotic things Montanans can do is stand up and be counted--in the 2020 Census.

Or, more accurately, go online and be counted. Or mail in the census form. Or chat with a census worker. Every 10 years, the country counts how many people live in the United States of America.

The stakes are large. Results of the census determine how much money Montana gets from the federal government. That's about $2 billion a year now. The equation is simple. Th...