AUSTRALIA – The Australian Census Bureau is asking residents to take the census more seriously. Specifically, they are requesting people stop writing "Jedi" under their religious preferences.
The issue started as a joke, in the last Australian census in 2011, where more than 65,000 citizens wrote in the Star Wars pseudo-religion, "Jedi," instead of, "Not religious."
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But, an Australian Census Bureau spokesperson said this was a serious issue and cannot happen again. The write-in of "Jedi" marks the citizen as having at least some religious preference. This skews the results of the amount of Australians who are not religious at all.
Officials say those numbers are important for determining public policy, and even zoning in cities.
The Australian Census Bureau requests that citizens put their correct religious preferences on the next Australian census, which is August 8th.