The question about race reappeared in the 1940 census. In this census, "pardo" was not given as an option, but if the answer was different from the options "white", "black" and "yellow", a horizontal line would be drawn into the "color" box. When the census data was tabulated, all responses with horizontal lines were collected into the single category of "pardo". The term "pardo" was not used as an option as an assurance to the public that census data would not be used for discriminatory purposes due to rising European racist sentiment at the time. In the 1950 census, "pardo" was actually added as a choice of answer. This trend remains, with the exception of the 1970 census, which also did not ask about race.