State Representation in Congress

Congressional apportionment laws govern that each state receive two Senators, which is why the Senate is based upon equal representation. However, the House of Representatives centers around proportionate representation, meaning that each state is apportioned a representative depending on the size of their population. The state of Ohio has 16 representatives to represent their population of nearly 12 million people, while Vermont only has 1 representative. Therefore, states as populous as Ohio are awarded far more than twice the number of electors in the electoral college compared with states as small as Vermont, as the number of electors in a state depends on their number of representatives. This system is unfair because more populated states have greater representation in Congress and the electoral college, so they have a greater impact on passing legislation and choosing presidential candidates. Although, the nature of the House is that representatives are constituents for certain districts comprised of a small number of people, and are therefore representing local interests. With that said, I do not believe there is any way to make the House less fair than it is now. The only measure that can be taken by government is to begin granting votes to United States territories and Washington D.C., as they are considered part of the US and should be able to vote in US elections as such. 

 

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