Member-only story
Rep. Jayapal — Please cosponsor HR.622 to expand the House of Representatives
Uncapping the House for a more representative democracy
To Congressmember Jayapal,
My name is Andre and I have been one of your constituents since you were first elected in 2016. I’m a voter in the Greenlake neighborhood.
I believe you’re a supporter of grassroots, representative, small d democracy and are aware of the many ways in which our country’s democracy is weak and under constant attack. While yes, we must defend our institutions, those institutions still have many design-flaws that lead to inequity and disenfranchisement.
One such way this happens in the House of Representatives is in the cap on the maximum number of congressmembers that may be elected to it, which has been capped at 435 since the passage of the Apportionment Act of 1911 (the cap was hit two years later in 1913). This creates a number of injustices beginning with a disproportionate House in which some constituents have more representation than others. For instance, in Rhode Island there are just over 525,000 constituents per Rep., but in Washington we have as many as 675,000, and states like Delaware and Montana can have over 900,000 constituents per Rep. This is not equal representation. Additionally, having a cap means that…
