new constitution

[aTUfan]

what is the annual total cost for congress? 535 congressmen salaries, staff, office space, travel, food, freebies, etc

 

[astonmartin708]

It dilutes the power of rural states, though. Think Nebraska, where Biden got 1 EV, and then Maine, where Trump got 1.

It's a mixed bag that way. I think I read somewhere recently that had such a system been in place in all states, that it would not have altered the outcome of the 2016 or the 2020 election. I suppose it is somewhat more representative, but I think the big advantage is in localizing national elections in a better way. I'd like to leave it up to the states, but I wish more states would do it.

It could be argued that smaller or medium sized states do have something to gain by splitting their EVs. If an election is expected to be very close (and they all are these days), then a Nebraska or Maine can attract attention and promises from candidates if they have any competitive congressional districts in relatively cheap and compact media markets. If a candidate is going to lose a state heavily, but can cheaply campaign to try and pick up one or two EVs, he will. That attracts attention and promises from both candidates, even if the state winner is a foregone conclusion. Further, it makes it in the interest of the state to draw in at least a couple of competitive districts instead of making them all lopsided one way or the other. A state that is a foregone conclusion at 9-0 (winner take all, but is reliably 60% Party A) is still a foregone conclusion at 7-2 (where they split but have no competitive districts), and will not get much attention in campaigns.

The really big states will never change unless you force them to, though. Flor example, take Florida. Florida wants people to pay attention to them. Florida is often won by 1-2% of the vote and is a constant battleground for 27 EVs. If the same battleground means the victor gets a 15-12 split in a hugely expensive media market, nobody will care to invest much or promise much to Floridians.

It’s a mixed bag where the districts are proportioned semi-equally. Look at Texas for example, some of their congressional districts are extremely sparsely populated.

 

[aTUfan]

It’s a mixed bag where the districts are proportioned semi-equally. Look at Texas for example, some of their congressional districts are extremely sparsely populated.

they should all have the same relative population.

 

[astonmartin708]

they should all have the same relative population.

Good luck. You would have to have as many districts as the least common denominator which would be Wyoming. That would mean 640 seats (~320M / 500K

 

[aTUfan]

Good luck. You would have to have as many districts as the least common denominator which would be Wyoming. That would mean 640 seats (~320M / 500K

no 320m/435 =735k The Constitution states that there shall be 435 house members from districts of proportionally the same size.

 

[aTUfan]

no 320m/435 =735k The Constitution states that there shall be 435 house members from districts of proportionally the same size.

vermont, and dc,(new state) also have less.

 

[astonmartin708]

no 320m/435 =735k The Constitution states that there shall be 435 house members from districts of proportionally the same size.

Uh… no it doesn’t. Do you think the 13 colonies (first states) had 435 representatives in the house???

Also, if you wanted to have populations of equal size for each house district you would need to move 200K people into Wyoming and hundreds of thousands into other low population states as well.

BTW, the current number of representatives was agreed to in the “Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929”

 

[aTUfan]

Wyoming 200k short, balances out districts that include more than citizens in their count.

 

[astonmartin708]

For comparison’s sake, the British Parliament has 650 elected members in their House of Commons that means representation of roughly 1/100K. Ironically the USA, left the UK for a lack of representation and now our citizens have 1/5th to 1/10th as much representation as they do.

We would need 3,200 house members to equivocate the level of direct influence they have on their legislators.

 

[aTUfan]

how about 1 rep from each state with a proportional share of votes base on the state population.

 

[astonmartin708]

how about 1 rep from each state with a proportional share of votes base on the state population.

Nah. They would only vote one direction.

 

[aTUfan]

Nah. They would only vote one direction.

ok then, just ignore state lines and create all equal districts.

 

[astonmartin708]

ok then, just ignore state lines and create all equal districts.

I dig it. Let’s do it.

 

[aTUfan]

too much us and them in dc. lets put the WE back in "We the people". how about the candidate with most votes is President and second place is vp.