Equal Voting Weight of All: Finally 'One Person, One Vote' from Hawaii to Maine?
University of Maribor - Faculty of Law; European Election Law Association
January 4, 2011
Temple Law Review, Vol. 81, No. 1, pp. 123-176, 2009
The 'one person, one vote' rule requires districts within states to have precisely equal populations. However, the populations of districts differ from state to state, varying from under 500,000 to over 900,000 people. The cause lies in the so-called method of apportionment. Through history, several different methods have been used, but all have failed to allocate to states their exact and fair share of representation. This article challenges this systemic distortion of the 'one person, one vote' principle by inviting readers to consider a weighted voting model that distributes the states' power in the House of Representatives exactly 'according to their Numbers'. The application of this model would result in an exact mathematical equality of each vote's weight regardless of the voter's state of residence. The article also suggests why the courts may even find the model to be a constitutional imperative.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 54
Keywords: apportionment, reapportionment, one person, one vote
JEL Classification: D72, K3, D7, D3, D39
Date posted: July 21, 2007 ; Last revised: January 5, 2011
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