There is no way to change the Congressional apportionment system to make it truly “fair.” No matter what changes are made, it is highly unlikely that a method can be found in which the citizens of all states have exactly the same representative power. There is no way to get the numbers to work out neatly as whole numbers when comparing state populations, and there is no way to let states have a fraction of a representative. In terms of the people serving as representatives, it’s the whole individual or nothing; they can’t be cut in half. Because of this, whole number ranges are used to allocate seats, which is the best solution given the circumstances. The numbers will not work out nicely on their own, especially as state populations change over time.

However, there are ways in which the system could be made fairer than it currently is. The ranges used to determine the number of seats each state is allowed could be made smaller so that states at the high and low ends of those ranges are closer in terms of per capita representation. Discrepancies would remain, but at least the gaps would be smaller. Another change that should be made is to give seats to Washington D.C. and the U.S. territories (a better change would be to give the territories their statehoods, but at the very least they should have seats). The decisions made in the House have an influence on the people living in these areas, and they should be given the ability to have a say in such decisions.

There is also a possibility of increasing the size of the House. This decision could potentially help to narrow down the ranges since more seats would mean more opportunities for representation. However, considering that the current size of the House is 435, any increase in size should not be very large. Major increases in size may have negative impacts on efficiency and increase the challenges in solving disagreements currently facing the House. An increase in the number of seats in the House should not expand the total number of representatives beyond four hundred and sixty or seventy-five to avoid huge losses in efficiencies while providing a decent number of new seats for D.C. and the territories and the current states as well. There should be a fairer allocation of seats in the House, but there will never be a way to give each American citizen the exact same representative power, regardless of what changes are made.