Meade County claims census undercount

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STURGIS (AP) — Officials in western South Dakota's Meade County believe federal census counters missed more than 3,000 people.

County planning director Bill Rich says the official count was 25,434. Rich believes the county's current population is 28,739 people. That's 13 percent higher.

Meade County stretches from Sturgis to Faith. It includes Summerset, the state's newest incorporated city.

The county is officially disputing the census count. County officials say the census counted only 165 more people in Sturgis, when at least 165 new homes were built during the same time.

Rich tells the media that he's spoken to a number of county residents who never got census forms in the mail, or a visit by any workers.

He says: "There was a whole bunch of mistakes. It was horrible."

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