House of Representatives Chapter 10 Section 2

Key Terms Apportion Reapportion Off-Year Election Single-Member District At-large Gerrymander Incumbent

Size and Terms 435 members in the House Set by Congress, not fixed by Constitution Each State is guaranteed at least one member Seven States have just one Apportioned-distributed amongst the states based on population

Voters in D.C., Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa each elect a delegate, not full fledged Article 1, Section 2, Clause 1 “Provides that “Representatives shall be…chosen every second Year” The fact they are always running makes them pay more attention to home

No term limits 1990 Tried to get an amendment to limit terms (three or four terms)

As the nation grew so did Congress Reapportion-every ten years after the census the seats will be redistributed As the nation grew so did Congress 1800 142 seats 1910 182 seats No reapportionment after 1920 census

Reapportionment Act of 1929 Set up permanent size at 435 Each house member represents 700,000 people After each census the Census Bureau figures out how many seats each state should have President sends it to Congress After 60 days if neither house rejects it it becomes effective

Congressional Elections Held on the same day in every state Held the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November Congress holds election in October 1872 turned to written or printed ballots Voting machines since 1899

Off-Year Elections- Congressional elections held in non-presidential years Party that holds the Presidency usually loses seats Except for 2002 ( because of 9/11) 2006 suffered major losses Democrats won because of dissatisfaction with George Bush and war in Iraq.

Can elect by general ticket system or a single member basis. Districts Chosen by 435 separate congressional districts 428 congressional districts for 43 states Can elect by general ticket system or a single member basis. Single member district-voters in each district elect one of the states representatives among a field of candidates running for the seat.

At-Large- elected from the state as a whole rather than a particular district Each voter could vote for each one of the state’s seats in the house At large elections proved grossly unfair Congress did away with the at large system 1842

1842 each state legislature responsible for drawing their congressional districts Must be made up of contiguous territory Each district have the same number of inhabitants 1901 be of compact territory Gerrymandering- odd shapes drawn to a political advantage

Most gerrymandering takes two forms To concentrate the oppositions voters in a few districts To spread the opposition so thinly among several districts limiting opposition’s chances Goal is to create safe districts Technology makes it easier then ever Gerrymandering is why only a few seats in the House are actually at risk

No more than 40 members represent districts that can not be qualified safe Most states carved up as rural vs. urban Wesberry v Sanders ruled that states must draw congressional districts of substantially equal populations The courts “one person, one vote” decision had an immediate impact

Gerrymandering solely on race violates the 15th Amendment Gamillion v. Lightfoot 1960- So called majority-minority district following the 1990 and again in 2000 Struck down race based districts in several cases

Davis v Bandemer 1986 Texas became the first state to redistrict between censuses Purpose was to increase the Republican seats in U.S. House 2006 Supreme Court held that neither the constitution nor any act of Congress prevents redrawing lines

Qualifications for office Be 25 years of age Have been a citizen of the Unites States for 7 years Be an inhabitant of the state from which he or she is elected Custom not Constitution requires that representative lives in their district Custom believes more familiar with problems

Constitution makes the House “the judge of Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own members” House may refuse a member a seat by majority vote. Punish members for disorderly behavior by majority vote With concurrence from 2/3’s to expel

In 1900 House refused to seat Brigham H. Roberts of Utah (polygamist) 1919 and 1920 House excluded Victor Berger Wisconsin (socialist party) Berger wrote several article during WW1 denouncing American participation 1919 charged with sedition Supreme Court reversed decision Reelected three more times and seated

In 200 years only three members have been expelled Powell v McCormack, 1969 Supreme court held that could not exclude if candidate met constitutional standards In 200 years only three members have been expelled

Informal Qualifications Varies from state to state Even district to district Ability to get out the vote Party identification Name familiarity Gender Ethnicity

Incumbent- the person who currently holds the office 90% of those win House reelection Fundraising abilities Each House seat in 2008 topped one million dollars Right combination spells nomination Wrong spells defeat