Copied:

"Here's the lawful remedy to your Census dilemma.

The Census uses a technique known as Negative Averment. It is a little tricky to wrap your head around. Explanation to follow.

Fact. There is no law that says you must fill out the census form.

Fact. There is a law that says if you refuse to fill out the census then you are guilty of an offense and subject to a $500 fine.

This is how they use Negative Averment. They send you several notices. Ultimately they will send an Agent to your door to question you. They send a person because they need a witness for court.

The Agent will eventually ask you if you are refusing to fill out the census form. If you say "yes I am refusing to fill out the Census form", they will hand you a violation ticket for $500.

And if you go to Court, they will give evidence that you refused to fill out the form and you will be convicted. This is how Negative Averment works. You are not being convicted of not filling out the form, you are convicted for your refusal to fill out the form. That is the offense.

How do you turn the tables on them?

1. Don't bother telling them about Negative Averment as the Agent probably won't understand it anyway. You know, that's all that matters.

2. Always remain in honor. Never make a statement as that can be used in court. Remain in honor by asking questions and acting in the affirmative.

3. Tell them that you are happy to fill out the census as soon as they show you the law that says you have to fill it out.

Here is where they start using their right to remain silent. They cannot show you that law because it doesn't exist. So they will double down and ask you again if you are refusing.

4. The last thing you say is this, "How can I refuse to do something that I am not legally required to do"? Again, they will remain silent as they cannot/will not answer your question.

5. You have remained in honor by not protesting or quarreling with the Agent. You have asked reasonable questions in an attempt to understand what they want from you.

No judge can convict you as you never actually refused so you never broke the law because you never refused.

You merely exposed the Negative Averment. This will never go to Court because they do not want this information on the record. So if they screw up and issue a ticket, don't worry, it will be withdrawn.

This is imho, the proper way to deal with Census agents that come to your door to attempt to trick you into self incriminating. Imagine how insidious a government is to do this to their citizens. They could offer you money to fill it out, but they would rather use Negative Averment to trick you into paying a $500 fine.

Alternatively, as they are now using the word Mandate, you could ask them to show you the law that says the mandate applies to you. Again, silence as this law doesn't exist. They use the word mandate betting that you don't know what it actually means but it sounds "official".

See my previous post about the definition of Mandate. Mandates only apply in a Principal Agent relationship. So ironically, the Census Agent has to fill out the Census form, but it won't apply to you unless you are a government agent." Angel Godsoe