The 2020 Census begins next April, and Alabama could be in danger of losing a congressional seat if too many residents of the state decide not to participate.

To help bring attention to the census, Gov. Kay Ivey and U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt were joined by U.S. Census Director Steven Dillingham to speak to more than 200 elected officials and representatives from around the state at Cullman Regional Wednesday afternoon.

Ivey told the crowd that participation in the census is vitally important for Alabama to maintain its number of congressional seats.

“There’s a lot at stake for the census in our state,” she said. 

In 2010, Alabama saw 72 percent of its residents participate in the census, and if that number holds true for 2020, the state will lose one of its congressional seats, and if the number slips to the 2000 census participation numbers, the state could lose two seats, Ivey said. 

She said her goal for Alabama is to reach at least an 80 percent participation rate in the 2020 Census, which would be a new record for the state.

“Set a record and stand up and be counted,” Ivey said. 

While the state’s congressional seat is in danger, a lack of participation in the census means the state will miss out on federal funding, Aderholt said.

Aderholt primarily spoke about the importance of Alabama residents participating in the census, with the population count being used to allocate nearly half a trillion dollars of federal funding that is used for services and infrastructure.

“What we want to do is make sure our numbers reflect the true population of the state of Alabama, he said. 

Every person not counted in Alabama is money going to another state, and the state’s goal is to make sure every person is counted, Aderholt said.

“We just want to make sure we’re getting our fair share,” he said.

Dillingham also spoke about the importance of everyone being counted in the census, as well as some of the new methods by which the census will be conducted next year, as well as the security measures that are in place to protect residents’ information.

“You can’t state enough the importance of the 2020 Census,” he said. “It is extremely important in so many ways, certainly with apportionment and redistricting and federal dollars, but also with state and local dollars and your organizations and businesses.”

With the advancement of technology, the ease of completing the census has never been easier, Dillingham said. 

He said the census can still be completed on paper, just like it always has, but 2020 will also bring options to complete it over the phone or on the internet.

“Now you can answer the census anywhere at any time,” he said.

The census takes in a lot of information, but it only releases aggregated numbers and statistics, Dillingham said.

“We don’t give out any personal information, any confidential information whatsoever, to anyone,” he said. 

Dillingham said it is a federal crime for any census employee to disclose any personal information that is collected in the census, and the Census Bureau’s cybersecurity technology is state-of-the-art to prevent any hacking attempts that may occur.

“I can assure you, we have the best safeguards that are available,” he said.

While officials warned of dire consequences to Alabama’s congressional representation and distribution of federal funding if a low percentage of residents are not counted, a coalition of 15 states and several major cities sought to oppose a lawsuit by the state that would have the U.S. Census count only U.S. citizens and other legal residents.

New York, California, Virginia, other states, the District of Columbia and some other cities have asked the courts to intervene in Alabama’s federal lawsuit against the U.S. Census Bureau. The states and cities want to defend the longstanding practice of counting all U.S. residents regardless of immigration status, and oppose Alabama’s effort to have it declared illegal.

Alabama’s 2018 lawsuit continues a battle over immigration status and the U.S. Census after President Donald Trump abandoned an effort to include a citizenship question on the 2020 Census.

The cities and states argued in a Monday court filing that the Constitution requires an actual enumeration of the population, which means all people regardless of their citizenship or legal status.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks of Huntsville filed the 2018 lawsuit that says counting all residents, regardless of immigration status, was not intended by the Constitution’s writers and the practice unfairly shifts political power and electoral votes from “states with low numbers of illegal aliens to states with high numbers of illegal aliens.”

Alabama argued in the lawsuit that “illegal aliens have not been admitted to the political community and thus are not entitled to representation in Congress or the Electoral College.”

Attorneys for the intervening states argued they too have a “significant stake in the outcome of this litigation” because it will affect their political representation in Congress and their eligibility for federal funds.

The Department of Justice is defending the Census Bureau in the lawsuit. However, the cities and states seeking to intervene in the case questioned the Trump administration commitment to defending the practice.

U.S. District Judge David Proctor in December allowed others to intervene in the case, noting the federal government’s “rather halfhearted” argument to dismiss the lawsuit. The latest motion to intervene noted that Trump Attorney General William Barr had noted the “current dispute over whether illegal aliens can be included for apportionment purposes.”

The states seeking to intervene in the lawsuit are: New York, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. The United States Conference of Mayors, the District of Columbia and nine other cities and counties, including Seattle and New York City, are also asking to join the lawsuit. The city of Atlanta also asked to intervene in a separate court filing.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.