[Last update 2001mar09]

Federal Representation 2002 - 2010


In the wake of Election 2000, there has been a lot of talk about the "unfairness" of the Electoral College. However, the United States is a Republic. Each state receives one Elector for each Senator and one Elector for each Representative it sends to Congress. The District of Columbia has 3 Electors, 0 Senators, and 0 Representatives.

"Each state shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress;..." (Article II, Section. 1. of the Constitution).
"A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State;..." (Amendment XXIII. of the Constitution, ratified March 29, 1961)

If then, there is "unfairness" in the allocation of the Electoral College, there must also be "unfairness" in the allocation of Congress. A minimum one Representative per State, regardless of its population, could also be construed as unfair (note that almost all the States are in the one Congressman per 600-something thousand range... note the disparities from that re: those States that have 1 Representative which is even more exacerbated with their 3 Electoral Votes).

This page allows you to sort the states alphabetically, by population, and by people per Elector, Senator, and House Member.

References:


Federal Representation 2002 - 2010
Sorted by Number of House Seats

  (sort) (sort)   (sort)   (sort) (sort) (sort)
Rank State Population Percentage
of
Population
Electors People
per
Elector
Senators People
per
Senate
seat
House
seats
People
per
House
seat
1California33,930,79812.03%55616,924216,965,39953640,204
2Texas20,903,9947.41%34614,823210,451,99732653,250
3New York19,004,9736.74%31613,06429,502,48729655,344
4Florida16,028,8905.68%27593,66328,014,44525641,156
5Illinois12,439,0424.41%21592,33526,219,52119654,686
6Pennsylvania12,300,6704.36%21585,74626,150,33519647,404
7Ohio11,374,5404.03%20568,72725,687,27018631,919
8Michigan9,955,8293.53%17585,63724,977,91515663,722
9New Jersey8,424,3542.99%15561,62424,212,17713648,027
10Georgia8,206,9752.91%15547,13224,103,48813631,306
11North Carolina8,067,6732.86%15537,84524,033,83713620,590
12Virginia7,100,7022.52%13546,20823,550,35111645,518
13Massachusetts6,355,5682.25%12529,63123,177,78410635,557
14Indiana6,090,7822.16%11553,70723,045,3919676,754
15Washington5,908,6842.10%11537,15322,954,3429656,520
16Tennessee5,700,0372.02%11518,18522,850,0199633,337
17Missouri5,606,2601.99%11509,66022,803,1309622,918
18Wisconsin5,371,2101.90%10537,12122,685,6058671,401
19Maryland5,307,8861.88%10530,78922,653,9438663,486
20Arizona5,140,6831.82%10514,06822,570,3428642,585
21Minnesota4,925,6701.75%10492,56722,462,8358615,709
22Louisiana4,480,2711.59%9497,80822,240,1367640,039
23Alabama4,461,1301.58%9495,68122,230,5657637,304
24Colorado4,311,8821.53%9479,09822,155,9417615,983
25Kentucky4,049,4311.44%8506,17922,024,7166674,905
26South Carolina4,025,0611.43%8503,13322,012,5316670,844
27Oklahoma3,458,8191.23%7494,11721,729,4105691,764
28Oregon3,428,5431.22%7489,79221,714,2725685,709
29Connecticut3,409,5351.21%7487,07621,704,7685681,907
30Iowa2,931,9231.04%7418,84621,465,9625586,385
31Mississippi2,852,9271.01%6475,48821,426,4644713,232
32Kansas2,693,8240.96%6448,97121,346,9124673,456
33Arkansas2,679,7330.95%6446,62221,339,8674669,933
34Utah2,236,7140.79%5447,34321,118,3573745,571
35Nevada2,002,0320.71%5400,40621,001,0163667,344
36New Mexico1,823,8210.65%5364,7642911,9113607,940
37West Virginia1,813,0770.64%5362,6152906,5393604,359
38Nebraska1,715,3690.61%5343,0742857,6853571,790
39Idaho1,297,2740.46%4324,3192648,6372648,637
40Maine1,277,7310.45%4319,4332638,8662638,866
41New Hampshire1,238,4150.44%4309,6042619,2082619,208
42Hawaii1,216,6420.43%4304,1612608,3212608,321
43Rhode Island1,049,6620.37%4262,4162524,8312524,831
44Montana905,3160.32%3301,7722452,6581905,316
45Delaware785,0680.28%3261,6892392,5341785,068
46South Dakota756,8740.27%3252,2912378,4371756,874
47North Dakota643,7560.23%3214,5852321,8781643,756
48Alaska628,9330.22%3209,6442314,4671628,933
49Vermont609,8900.22%3203,2972304,9451609,890
50Wyoming495,3040.18%3165,1012247,6521495,304
51District of Columbia574,0960.20%3191,3650 0 
Totals281,998,273100.00%538 100 435 
State Average (1)   444,457 2,814,242 651,097
Country Average (2)   524,160 2,814,242 646,952
 

(1) The averages are computed by weighing each state equally. The District of Columbia is included in the Elector compuatations but not in the Senate or House computations.

  • People Per Elector = Sum of (People per Elector) ÷ 51 jurisdictions
  • People Per Senate Seat = Sum of (People per Senate Seat) ÷ 50 jurisdictions
  • People Per House Seat = Sum of (People per House Seat) ÷ 50 jurisdictions

(2) The averages are computed using the total population of country. The District of Columbia is included in the Elector compuatations but not in the Senate or House computations.

  • People Per Elector = Population of 281,998,273 ÷ 538 electors
  • People Per Senate Seat = Population of 281,424,177 ÷ 100 Senate Seats
  • People Per House Seat = Population of 281,424,177 ÷ 435 House Seats
 
 


  United States Census 2000 Home  
 
  Apportionment of Representatives and Electors  
  2000 - 2010 Federal Representation by People per House Seat, Senate Seat, and Electors  
  Utah 2000 Census Challenge  
  Utah, et al. v. Evans, Secy of Commerce 01-0714  
 
  An Historical Analysis of the Electoral College  
 
  The Math Behind the 2000 Census Apportionment of Representatives  
  PERL script used to generate the Apportionment