Inadequate Representation in the House

[Keith Broaders]

Inadequate Representation in the House

In Article I Section 2 Clause 3 of the Constitution the founding fathers made an attempt to guarantee that every state would have one representative for every thirty-thousand inhabitants.

They understood the danger of having too many, or too few representatives.  They decided that having one representative for every thirty-thousand inhabitants was the most appropriate number.

An error in the transcription of the clause stated that the number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty-thousand,, rather than limiting the number of constituents to no more than thirty-thousand..

Today, the average size of a Congressional District now exceeds 700,000. If   the House had one representative for every thirty-thousand, we would have over 10,000 representatives.,. According to the Constitution, Congress can not legally convene and conduct business without a quorum. 

There are currently over 9,500 vacancies in the House and according to the Constitution when vacancies occur it is the duty of the governor to file writs of election to fill the vacant seats.