What should our Representative Ratio Be?

Is it time to go back to the original Constitutional Framework to determine the number of members of House of Representatives? Here are some facts, as explained by yahoo answers. Let's start by establishing the original population of the infant United States. The total population was about 2.67 million, broken down as follows: New Hampshire - 87,800 Massachusetts (including Plymouth) - 317,700 Rhode Island - 52,900 Connecticut - 206,700 New York - 210,500 New Jersey - 139,600 Pennsylvania - 327,300 Delaware - 45,400 Maryland - 245,500 Virginia - 538,000 North Carolina - 270,100 South Carolina - 180,000 Georgia - 56,100 http://merrill.olm.net/mdocs/pop/colonies/colonies.htm Now, "at the start of the United States" could be taken one of two ways, either as under the Articles of Confederation, or under the Constitution. Under the Articles it's easy, each state had one vote in Congress, irrespective of population. So the ratios varied widely. There was no Senate. Under the Constitution, "The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand..." The Senate is fixed at two for every state, irrespective of population. (U.S. Constitution, Article One, section 2 paragraph 3, and section 3 paragraph 1.) HOWEVER, while the Senate ratio remains unchanged, a quick look at current numbers shows us 435 Congressional Representatives for a population of over 300,000,000. What works out to about 1:690,000. Apparently, in 1911, Congress passed a law that effectively reset the Constitutional ratio. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Law_62-5 I can't find that the constitutionality of this law was ever challenged.

Here is the law that currently reigns supreme, which has yet to be challenged on constitutional grounds.

This is excerpted from Wikipedia.

Public Law 62-5
Public Law 62-5, passed by the United States Congress on August 8, 1911, set the number of members of the United States House of Representatives at 435 effective with the 63rd Congress in 1913. It also included a provision for the addition of one seat each for Arizona and New Mexico when they became states.
Subsequent apportionment
The number of members increased temporarily to 437 when Alaska and Hawaii were admitted as states during the 86th Congress (seating one member from each of those states without changing the apportionment of the other seats), but after the 1960 census and the 1962 election, that number went back to 435.
See also
United States congressional apportionmentList of United States congressional districtsExternal links
Member FAQ, "What is the size of the House of Representatives and how is it determined?" - Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of RepresentativesView this page on regular WikipediaPermanently disable mobile site

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Dave Wallace December 13, 2010 at 2:20pm

Here is the law that currently reigns supreme, which has yet to be challenged on constitutional grounds.

This is excerpted from Wikipedia.

Public Law 62-5
Public Law 62-5, passed by the United States Congress on August 8, 1911, set the number of members of the United States House of Representatives at 435 effective with the 63rd Congress in 1913. It also included a provision for the addition of one seat each for Arizona and New Mexico when they became states.
Subsequent apportionment
The number of members increased temporarily to 437 when Alaska and Hawaii were admitted as states during the 86th Congress (seating one member from each of those states without changing the apportionment of the other seats), but after the 1960 census and the 1962 election, that number went back to 435.
See also
United States congressional apportionmentList of United States congressional districtsExternal links
Member FAQ, "What is the size of the House of Representatives and how is it determined?" - Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of RepresentativesView this page on regular WikipediaPermanently disable mobile site

This reply was deleted.

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