2 U.S.C. § 2a — Reapportionment of Representatives; time and manner; existing decennial census figures as basis; statement by President; duty of clerk

submitted 97 years ago by ch. 28 to r/title-2-THE-CONGRESS · 491 words · no verdicts yet

in plain englishAI-generated · not legal advice

This law tells the President to report to Congress, after each census, how many Representatives each state should get. It also sets the rule that no state gets fewer than one Representative, and it explains how states elect Representatives while waiting to redraw their districts.

(a) On the first day, or within the first week, of the first regular session of Congress after each census (starting with the Eighty-second Congress and every fifth Congress after that), the President must send Congress a statement. It must show how many people live in each state (not counting untaxed Indians), based on the census, and how many Representatives each state would get if the current total number of Representatives were divided among the states using the "method of equal proportions." No state can get fewer than one Representative. (b) Starting with the Eighty-third Congress and every Congress after that, until a new apportionment or law changes it, each state gets the number of Representatives shown in the President's statement from (a), with the same rule that no state gets fewer than one. Within fifteen days of getting that statement, the Clerk of the House of Representatives must send each state's governor a certificate stating how many Representatives that state gets. If the Clerk's office is vacant, or the Clerk is absent or unable to do this, the Sergeant at Arms of the House must do it instead. (c) Until a state redraws its districts under its own state law to match a new apportionment, that state's Representatives are elected this way: (1) If the number of Representatives stays the same, they are elected from the districts the state's law already set up, and any elected at-large continue to be elected at-large. (2) If the number of Representatives goes up, the extra Representative or Representatives are elected at-large, and the rest are elected from the existing districts. (3) If the number goes down, but the state still has exactly that many districts, the Representatives are elected from those existing districts. (4) If the number goes down and the state has fewer districts than that new number of Representatives, the extra Representatives (beyond the number of districts) are elected at-large, and the rest from the existing districts. (5) If the number goes down and the state has more districts than that new number of Representatives, all of that state's Representatives are elected at-large.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

(a)

On the first day, or within one week thereafter, of the first regular session of the Eighty-second Congress and of each fifth Congress thereafter, the President shall transmit to the Congress a statement showing the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed, as ascertained under the seventeenth and each subsequent decennial census of the population, and the number of Representatives to which each State would be entitled under an apportionment of the then existing number of Representatives by the method known as the method of equal proportions, no State to receive less than one Member.

(b)

Each State shall be entitled, in the Eighty-third Congress and in each Congress thereafter until the taking effect of a reapportionment under this section or subsequent statute, to the number of Representatives shown in the statement required by subsection (a) of this section, no State to receive less than one Member. It shall be the duty of the Clerk of the House of Representatives, within fifteen calendar days after the receipt of such statement, to send to the executive of each State a certificate of the number of Representatives to which such State is entitled under this section. In case of a vacancy in the office of Clerk, or of his absence or inability to discharge this duty, then such duty shall devolve upon the Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives.

(c)

Until a State is redistricted in the manner provided by the law thereof after any apportionment, the Representatives to which such State is entitled under such apportionment shall be elected in the following manner: (1) If there is no change in the number of Representatives, they shall be elected from the districts then prescribed by the law of such State, and if any of them are elected from the State at large they shall continue to be so elected; (2) if there is an increase in the number of Representatives, such additional Representative or Representatives shall be elected from the State at large and the other Representatives from the districts then prescribed by the law of such State; (3) if there is a decrease in the number of Representatives but the number of districts in such State is equal to such decreased number of Representatives, they shall be elected from the districts then prescribed by the law of such State; (4) if there is a decrease in the number of Representatives but the number of districts in such State is less than such number of Representatives, the number of Representatives by which such number of districts is exceeded shall be elected from the State at large and the other Representatives from the districts then prescribed by the law of such State; or (5) if there is a decrease in the number of Representatives and the number of districts in such State exceeds such decreased number of Representatives, they shall be elected from the State at large.

Source credit: (June 18, 1929, ch. 28, § 22, 46 Stat. 26; Apr. 25, 1940, ch. 152, 54 Stat. 162; Nov. 15, 1941, ch. 470, § 1, 55 Stat. 761; Pub. L. 104–186, title II, § 201, Aug. 20, 1996, 110 Stat. 1724.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

1929Enacted · Act of June 18, 1929, ch. 28 · 46 Stat. 26
1940Amended · Act of Apr. 25, 1940, ch. 152 · 54 Stat. 162
1941Amended · Act of Nov. 15, 1941, ch. 470 · 55 Stat. 761
1996Amended · Pub. L. 104-186 · 110 Stat. 1724

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by ch. 28 on 1929-06-18.

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