Portland, Ore. ? A federal appeals court has ruled that the Census Bureau must release its internal estimates of how many people were missed when the U.S. population was counted in 2000 a decision that could affect how billions in government money is distributed.

Democrats, big-city politicians and civil rights groups have charged that the census missed 3.2 million people most of them minorities and the poor and that many communities are being shortchanged government funding that is distributed by population.

In a unanimous decision filed late Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the public is entitled under federal open-government law to see the Census Bureau’s statistically adjusted figures, which show how many people were probably missed in every state, county and neighborhood across the country.

The court rejected Census Bureau arguments that releasing the data would expose sensitive internal debates and have a “chilling effect” on future policy discussions at the agency.

Census Bureau officials declined to comment and referred calls to the Justice Department, where spokesman Charles Miller said no decision had been made on whether to appeal to the Supreme Court. He would not comment on the ruling itself.

After census takers and census questionnaires were sent out in 2000, the Census Bureau used mathematical formulas to estimate how many minorities, renters and others might have been missed in inner cities, rural areas and other places. Those figures are often called the “undercount.”

But the Census Bureau refused to release the undercount, contending the adjusted figures are unreliable and would cause political battles about federal funding. The bureau has instead been releasing the unadjusted population counts arrived at through census takers and questionnaires.

The ruling only mandates that the Census Bureau release the adjusted figures. It does not actually force the bureau to use those numbers in place of the unadjusted figures that were issued for political redistricting and the distribution of billions in federal funding.

A 1999 U.S. Supreme Court ruling bars the use of adjusted numbers for reapportioning congressional seats.

However, the Census Bureau has left open the possibility of using adjusted data for federal funding in the future. And state and local governments would be free to use the adjusted numbers for redistricting and for distributing tax dollars, unless the laws there say otherwise.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., welcomed Tuesday’s ruling.

“There are many people who have doubts about the Census Bureau’s decision and the way the Bush administration made the decision,” she said. “This information would help scientists and the public better judge for themselves whether they made the right decision or not.”