The House of
Representatives
population-based representation
Article I, Section 2
Size and Terms
435 members – determined by Congress
 Representation apportioned (distributed)
based on population
 Representatives serve 2 year terms
 No limit on the number of terms
 Every state is guaranteed at least one seat
in the House of Representatives, no
matter how small their population is.

Small States with 1
Representative
Alaska
 Delaware
 Montana
 North Dakota
 South Dakota
 Vermont
 Wyoming

How does the government know
how many people live in each
state?

Census: Constitution requires the
government to count all of the people in the
country every 10 years

After the census, Congress decides the
number of representatives each state will
have.
Reapportionment
After every census, the representation is
reapportioned or redistributed
 Number set at 435 - The Reapportionment
Act of 1929
 2010 was the last Census
 The number of people counted was
308,745,538 divided by 435 = 705,760
people per representative
 The US grows – number of people each
representative speaks for grows.

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decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Gerrymandering
Districts with unusual shapes
 Gerrymandering draws districts to favor
one political party - governor’s
responsibility
 The original gerrymander was created in
1812 by Massachusetts
governor Elbridge Gerry,
who crafted a district for
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decompressor
are
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to see this picture.
political purposes that looked
like a salamander.

How has Congress regulated redistricting?
In 1967, Congress passed a law requiring
all U.S. representatives to be elected from
single member district - the system we use
today.
 Congress in 1982 amended the Voting
Rights Act to protect the voting rights of
protected racial minorities in redistricting.
Within those laws, states have great leeway
to draw districts, which often leads to
gerrymandering.

How Has the Supreme Court regulated
redistricting?

Wesbury v Sanders 1964


Bush v Vera 1996


One man, one vote: each voting district must be
of similar size
Struck down race based districts as
unconstitutional - race can not be the controlling
factor in drawing district lines
Hunt v Cromartie 2001

Race can be one of the mix of factors that shape
the process
Congressional Elections
Held the first Tuesday after the first
Monday in November of an even
numbered year
 Senate - continuous body
 House - up for election every even
numbered year

Districts

Single-member districts


People in a district vote for their
representative
At-large?

People in a state vote for all representatives
in that state