After Rav Yaakov Yosef recently paskened that people should not participate in the upcoming census due to issues of counting people, the census people got nervous that many would not take part in the census.

They then went to Rav Ovadia Yosef and Rav Elyashiv, and others to get their opinions on the matter. .
Ravs Elyashiv, Karelitz and Wosner paskened that it is ok to participate in the census. The reasoning is that the count includes non-Jews as well, along with the fact that the purpose is not just to know a number (i.e. how many Jews are there), but to plan infrastructures, such as building hospitals and the like. It is more of a "survey" than a "census", and therefore it is acceptable.

An interesting point mentioned in the Ynet article on the topic is that the census people agreed to the Rabbonim that they would not share the info with government offices such as the tax authority, so as not to harm people who do not report their income... very strange request for the rabbis to make, IMO...

The Mishpacha newspaper article that discussed the topic also mentioned that part of the reason for it being allowed is because they only "count" about 20% of the population, so it is not really a count anyway. Also, it is all an evaluation and not an accurate count.

So when the census people come calling, feel free to participate!

Rav Yaakov Yosef, son of Rav Ovadia Yosef, has issued a psak regarding the upcoming census scheduled to begin next month.

Rav Yosef has declared that one should not cooperate with the clerks of the Census Bureau and should not agree to be counted. Rav Yosef said, "If God forbid somebody counts people, it can effect ayin ha'ra taking control over them. There are those who are lenient nowadays saying it is a computer counting the people, and not a person. We do not protest against those who are lenient. Better that one should not be counted"

As we know, we generally refrain from counting people. We generally use psukim to count when we need to, such as for a minyan, and other times, at least as kids, we always found innovative ways around it by counting items, such as shirts, or kipas (would not work for the general public obviously).

Avoiding the census is definitely an interesting twist on that. Especially in light of the fact that in the chumash it takes a census a number of times (it was not a person counting them though). Rav Yosef compared it to when King David told Yoav to count the people and he did rather than refuse, and it caused a plague to break out.