WASHINGTON?Utah lost a Supreme Court appeal Monday in the state’s fight to wrest a congressional seat from North Carolina, which came out 856 residents ahead of Utah in the 2000 Census.

The court, without comment, rejected Utah’s request to decide whether it is constitutional to include some Americans living abroad in the national head count, while excluding others.

Utah claims it was cheated out of a congressional seat because the Census did not count thousands of state residents serving as Mormon missionaries overseas.

The Census Bureau only counts people living overseas if they are in military or government service at the time.