Soldier dies while trying to vote during Civil War

[David Lockmiller]

(11-16-2018 08:43 PM)Steve Wrote:  David,

One of the most overlooked important issues in that election was the size of the House of Representatives hasn't increased with the population of the U.S. since the 1920's. If it had, Gore would've won the electoral vote regardless of the outcome in Florida.

Wikipedia: House of Representatives

The only constitutional rule relating to the size of the House states: "The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative." Congress regularly increased the size of the House to account for population growth until it fixed the number of voting House members at 435 in 1911.

States that are entitled to more than one Representative are divided into single-member districts. This has been a federal statutory requirement since 1967.

States typically redraw district boundaries after each census, though they may do so at other times, such as the 2003 Texas redistricting. Each state determines its own district boundaries, either through legislation or through non-partisan panels. "Malapportionment" is unconstitutional and districts must be approximately equal in population (see Wesberry v. Sanders). Additionally, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibits redistricting plans that are intended to, or have the effect of, discriminating against racial or language minority voters.

Aside from malapportionment and discrimination against racial or language minorities, federal courts have allowed state legislatures to engage in gerrymandering for the benefit of political parties or incumbents. In a 1984 case, Davis v. Bandemer, the Supreme Court held that gerrymandered districts could be struck down on the basis of the Equal Protection Clause, but the Court did not articulate a standard for when districts are impermissibly gerrymandered. However, the Court overruled Davis in 2004 in Vieth v. Jubelirer, and Court precedent currently holds gerrymandering to be a political question.

Los Angeles Times -- December 10, 2010

The nation's population and political heft continued to swing toward the South and West in the 2010 census, but for the first time since statehood, California's population did not grow enough to gain additional congressional seats, the U.S. Census Bureau said Tuesday.

As it has since the last reapportionment 10 years ago, the state will continue to have 53 members in the House of Representatives — by far the largest bloc. California gained about 3.4 million residents over the decade, a 10% growth rate that closely tracked the national rate.

The U.S. population reached 308.7 million, but the growth rate for the decade was the lowest since the Great Depression.

The big winners in the once-a-decade reallocation of House seats were Texas, which will gain four seats, and Florida, which will gain two. The biggest losers were New York and Ohio, which each lose two. Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah and Washington will pick up one seat each, while Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey and Pennsylvania will each lose one.

Steve, please note this statement in my post #15: "Ultimately, Bush won 271 electoral votes, one more than was necessary for the majority." In the paragraph immediately above, it is stated that Florida gained two electoral votes as a result of the 2010 census. That means the presidential vote in Florida will be even more important in 2020. Sounds to me like things are getting worse! Agree or disagree?