1. House of Representatives
Basic Facts

2. State Representation Key Green – Gained Purple – Lost
Yellow – no change
State Representation

3. House of Representative Size
Congress set the size at 435 members
State’s representation set by the Census
The 435 votes are apportioned
Each State has at least one vote
Washington DC, Guam, Virgin Islands, and American Samoa elect a representative with no voting power
Puerto Rico chooses a resident commissioner, also with no vote

4. Reapportionment The representation is redistributed after each Census
The original number was set at 65 until a Census could be taken
After the first Census the number was changed to 106.
By 1912 the size was 435
The House ignored the 1920 Census

5. 2003 Apportionment States that gained States that lost New York – 2
Arizona – 2
Florida – 2
Georgia – 2
Texas – 2
California – 1
Colorado – 1
Nevada – 1
North Carolina - 1
States that lost
New York – 2
Pennsylvania – 2
Connecticut – 1
Illinois – 1
Indiana – 1
Michigan – 1
Mississippi – 1
Ohio – 1
Oklahoma – 1
Wisconsin - 1

6. Reapportionment Act of 1929
Set the “permanent” size of the House at 435
The Census Bureau decides the reapportionment after each census
The President then sends this plan to Congress
Each house has 60-days to reject the plan. If neither does, it becomes effective.

7. Term Each elected Representative serves a two year term.
There is no limit to how many times they can be elected
John Dingell, Democrat from Michigan,
has served the longest. He first took
office in 1955 when he took his late
father’s seat.

8. Congressional Elections
When are they held?
First Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even numbered years
Off-Year Elections
Also known as midterm elections
Held in the middle of the Presidential term
Usually the party in charge, President’s party, loses seats in this election

9. Congress after the 2006 elections

10. Voting Districts
Single Member District – Congressional District - The voters of each district will elect their own Representative
General Ticket - at large – Since1842 this can only be used for States with one Representative

13. Gerrymandering
Voting districts drawn to favor one party over the other by including more of that parties members.
Districts may be drawn to concentrate the opposition’s voters in just a few districts leaving the majority vote for their candidates
Districts may be drawn to leave just a few members of the opposition party in each district and keep them from winning

14. “One person, one vote” Reynolds v. Sims: 1964
Alabama law required one State Senator from each county
Some counties had more people
Did it violate 14th Amendment equal protection clause?
Supreme Court –Alabama law did violate – that districts should be drawn by population
Oyez: Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533 (1964), U.S. Supreme Court Case Summary & Oral Argument
Wesberry v. Sanders: 1964
Wesberry’s Georgia 5th Congressional district was larger than most
He sued saying it violated his equal vote based on 14th Amendment
Supreme Court agreed and Georgia was forced to redraw its districts.
Oyez: Wesberry v. Sanders, 376 U.S. 1 (1964), U.S. Supreme Court Case Summary & Oral Argument

15. House of Representatives Qualifications
25 years old
US citizen for at least seven (7) years
Must be an inhabitant of the State from which he/she is elected
Informal qualification is that they live in the district from which they are elected
Others that can make or break a candidate: party identification, how well known is the name, gender, ethnic characteristics, and political expertise

16. Challenges Majority vote to refuse to seat a member-elect
1900 Brigham Roberts (Utah) because he was a polygamist
1967 Adam Clayton Powell was denied a seat because he was accused of misappropriating funds– Supreme Court said they must seat him because he met the qualifications

17. Punish for “disorderly behavior”
Requires a majority vote
1989: Jim Wright (D) resigned before he could be reprimanded for financial dealings with interest groups
2006: Tom Delay (R) resigned before he was reprimanded
1990: Barney Frank (D) was reprimanded for his relationship with a male prostitute – reelected by his constituents
2006: Mark Foley (R) resigned after it was revealed he sent inappropriate s to a page
1997: Gerry Eastman Studds (D) Censured by the House of Representatives for having sexual relations with a teenage House page.

18. Expel a member by a 2/3 vote
Five members have been expelled from the House
three of them were removed in 1861 for supporting the Confederate States' secession, which led to the Civil War.
In 1980, Michael Myers (D) was expelled for accepting bribes (376 to 30)
In 2002 James Traficant (D) was expelled following his conviction for taking bribes, filing false tax returns, racketeering, and forcing his aides to perform chores at his farm in Ohio and on his houseboat in Washington DC, and is currently serving out an 8-year prison term scheduled to end in