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Apportionment Bill
Apportionment Bill
Under Constitution First Census Second Census Third Census Fourth Census Fifth Census Sixth Census Seventh Census Eighth Census Ninth Census Tenth Census Eleventh Census Twelfth Census Census Year 1787 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 Population n/a 3,929,214 5,308,483 7,239,881 9,633,822 12,866,020 17,069,453 23,191,876 31,443,321 38,558,371 50,155,783 62,622,250 75,568,686 Apportionment Year 1789 1793 1803 1813 1823 1833 1843 1853 1863 1873 1883 1893 1903 Ratio 63,000 33,000 33,000 35,000 40,000 47,700 70,680 93,423 127,381 131,425 151,911 173,901 194,182 65 105 141 181 213 240 223 234 241 292 325 356 386 Representatives
The Apportionment Bill is an act passed by the Congress of the United States after each decennial census to determine the number of members which each state shall send to the United States House of Representatives. The number of the members of the first House was 65. Following the first decennial census the House was enlarged to approximate the Constitutional maximum of "Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand". As the House would, at this ratio, have become even larger than today’s 435 members, the ratio, which is first settled by Congress before apportionment, has been raised after each census, as will be seen from the accompanying table. The same term is applied to the acts passed by the state legislatures for making their electoral districts equal in population. Such acts are usually passed at decennial intervals, more often after the federal census, but the dates may vary in different states. As per Reynolds v. Sims, the electoral districts so formed are expected to be equal in proportion to the number of inhabitants; but
districts drawn for the benefit of one or more political party are not prohibited as long as they are equal in population (see gerrymander). If a state has received an increase in the number of its representatives and its legislature does not pass an apportionment bill before the next congressional election, the votes of the whole state elect the additional members on a general ticket and they are called "congressmen-at-large."
See also
• Congressional Apportionment Amendment
References
• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apportionment_Bill" Categories: United States federal government administration legislation
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Apportionment Bill
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