A Need for Change in the Method of Voting in the United States House of Representatives
There must be a change in voting procedures in the United States House of Representatives.
While United States Senators derive their authority from the State they represent as an entire
entity acting as one, members of the United States House of Representatives derive their
authority from the individual people they represent. Therefore, the House of Representatives
must struggle to represent each constituent of their respective congressional districts.
Congressional Representatives’ constituents cannot be individually represented by maintaining
one whole number vote per Representative. With the average population attributed to a
Congressional Representative being approximately 712,684 people (as of 2010), this maintains
that those individual constituents are in full agreement with each other on every vote cast by
their representative. This is absolutely absurd. It is outrageous to believe that simply because
a majority of a particular population agreed to elect one person as their Congressional
Representative, all the citizens in that district, from that point on, completely agree on all
subsequent issues. To alleviate this disproportionate, inaccurate, and non-representative
method of “1 vote 712,684 people” form of representation, the House of Representatives needs
a method of casting one Congressional Vote, but still allow for all the voices of their
constituents to be heard at the Federal level, thus supporting a democratic process in the House
of Representatives, and providing a greater checks and balances system to the Federal Republic.
A fractional vote method in the House of Representatives will allow for the voices of each
constituent to be accurately and truthfully represented in the government (which exists to speak
these constituents’ voices in the first place).
How Fractional Vote in the House of Representatives Works
One Representative has 137 constituents. His one Congressional Vote is made up of 137
fractions of 1. Each constituent makes up one part of the Representative’s vote. For any bill,
resolution, or other congressional action that requires a vote from the House of Representatives,
the Representative will have to cast 137 Constituent Votes to make up his 1 Congressional
Vote. The Constituent Votes do not all have to be the same; for that would defeat the purpose
of the fractional Constituent Vote. Each constituent may vote as he or she pleases, whether it
be “Yay”, “Nay”, “Abstain”, or otherwise. The Representative must cast all votes according to
the Constituent Votes as each constituent dictates their fraction of the Congressional Vote.
However, the Representative must cast all Constituent Votes, even if constituents do not voice
their vote; therefore, the Representative may cast any non-voiced Constituent votes as the
Representative sees fit.
It is the duty of the constituents to voice their fraction of the vote to the Representative. No
person can cast a Constituent Vote in place of another person. It is the responsibility of the
Representative to allow for a reasonable means, deemed reasonable by his constituents, for the
constituents of their district to communicate their votes and desires to the Representative. It is
also the responsibility of the Representative to provide accessible copies of all legislation,
including that which is in any committee on which the Representative is a part of, to all of the
constituents of his congressional district.
Constituent Votes will not be a set constant number. The number of Constituent Votes will
fluctuate with the number of registered voters in the Representative’s congressional district.
Simple ways must be devised to resign registration in one district and register in another
district. For existing voters, upon registration to vote in any new congressional district, proof of
prior voting registration and residence in the citizen’s previous district must be proven.
Presentation of prior residence and submission and forfeit of voter registration from the citizen’s
prior congressional district, along with proof of new residence, should be suitable for such proof
of congressional district switching. Voters registering to vote for the first time must present
proof of being a citizen of the United States of America and proof of residency in the
congressional district in which they are registering.
Upon moving to a different congressional district, the district the constituent leaves will lose
that Constituent Vote; the district to which the constituent moves will gain that Constituent
Vote.
Tallying Constituent Votes
Constituent Votes shall be tallied as such:
The “Yays” have the vote with 5.74 Congressional Votes to the “Nays” 3.25 Congressional Votes.
This form of factional voting disregards the actual Congressional Vote of the individual
Representative. Instead, it tallies the entire accumulation of individual Constituent Votes from
throughout the nation and assigns them to a final congressional vote count. This takes power
away from two factions: large lobbying interests and the tyrannical majority. Whereas the
United States Senate will still be able to maintain majority rules voting, the House of
Representatives will be able to counter that by allowing each citizen proportional to the
population represented by the House of Representatives.
No longer will lobbying parties be able to appeal to particular States that hold a greater number
of Congressional Votes simply to pass laws and actions favorable to those lobbying parties. The
Federal laws and actions will have to appeal to the States with fewer voting districts as well as
those with many districts. Because the larger States will not hold such a disproportionately
greater sway over the passing of laws simply because they have more Congressional votes, the
laws passed and actions conducted within the Federal government will have to appeal to
everybody in the nation.
No one group of States will be able to dictate law to any other State simply because there are
more people in one State than the other. Citizens’ districts with smaller populations will have
proportionally greater authority than those who are constituents in districts with greater
populations. This proportional difference will be balanced against the population difference in
larger districts. In the larger districts, more people will be able to vote to balance the
proportional difference in the distribution of the Constituent Votes in the smaller districts. This
will provide greater equality between States in the House of Representatives. As it stands now,
States such as California, New York, Texas, and Florida hold greater power by themselves in the
House of Representatives than Louisiana, Wyoming, and New Mexico combined. This fractional
vote will equalize the power of the States in the Federal government.
---A.P.---
Copyright 2010
There must be a change in voting procedures in the United States House of Representatives.
While United States Senators derive their authority from the State they represent as an entire
entity acting as one, members of the United States House of Representatives derive their
authority from the individual people they represent. Therefore, the House of Representatives
must struggle to represent each constituent of their respective congressional districts.
Congressional Representatives’ constituents cannot be individually represented by maintaining
one whole number vote per Representative. With the average population attributed to a
Congressional Representative being approximately 712,684 people (as of 2010), this maintains
that those individual constituents are in full agreement with each other on every vote cast by
their representative. This is absolutely absurd. It is outrageous to believe that simply because
a majority of a particular population agreed to elect one person as their Congressional
Representative, all the citizens in that district, from that point on, completely agree on all
subsequent issues. To alleviate this disproportionate, inaccurate, and non-representative
method of “1 vote 712,684 people” form of representation, the House of Representatives needs
a method of casting one Congressional Vote, but still allow for all the voices of their
constituents to be heard at the Federal level, thus supporting a democratic process in the House
of Representatives, and providing a greater checks and balances system to the Federal Republic.
A fractional vote method in the House of Representatives will allow for the voices of each
constituent to be accurately and truthfully represented in the government (which exists to speak
these constituents’ voices in the first place).
How Fractional Vote in the House of Representatives Works
One Representative has 137 constituents. His one Congressional Vote is made up of 137
fractions of 1. Each constituent makes up one part of the Representative’s vote. For any bill,
resolution, or other congressional action that requires a vote from the House of Representatives,
the Representative will have to cast 137 Constituent Votes to make up his 1 Congressional
Vote. The Constituent Votes do not all have to be the same; for that would defeat the purpose
of the fractional Constituent Vote. Each constituent may vote as he or she pleases, whether it
be “Yay”, “Nay”, “Abstain”, or otherwise. The Representative must cast all votes according to
the Constituent Votes as each constituent dictates their fraction of the Congressional Vote.
However, the Representative must cast all Constituent Votes, even if constituents do not voice
their vote; therefore, the Representative may cast any non-voiced Constituent votes as the
Representative sees fit.
It is the duty of the constituents to voice their fraction of the vote to the Representative. No
person can cast a Constituent Vote in place of another person. It is the responsibility of the
Representative to allow for a reasonable means, deemed reasonable by his constituents, for the
constituents of their district to communicate their votes and desires to the Representative. It is
also the responsibility of the Representative to provide accessible copies of all legislation,
including that which is in any committee on which the Representative is a part of, to all of the
constituents of his congressional district.
Constituent Votes will not be a set constant number. The number of Constituent Votes will
fluctuate with the number of registered voters in the Representative’s congressional district.
Simple ways must be devised to resign registration in one district and register in another
district. For existing voters, upon registration to vote in any new congressional district, proof of
prior voting registration and residence in the citizen’s previous district must be proven.
Presentation of prior residence and submission and forfeit of voter registration from the citizen’s
prior congressional district, along with proof of new residence, should be suitable for such proof
of congressional district switching. Voters registering to vote for the first time must present
proof of being a citizen of the United States of America and proof of residency in the
congressional district in which they are registering.
Upon moving to a different congressional district, the district the constituent leaves will lose
that Constituent Vote; the district to which the constituent moves will gain that Constituent
Vote.
Tallying Constituent Votes
Constituent Votes shall be tallied as such:
The “Yays” have the vote with 5.74 Congressional Votes to the “Nays” 3.25 Congressional Votes.
This form of factional voting disregards the actual Congressional Vote of the individual
Representative. Instead, it tallies the entire accumulation of individual Constituent Votes from
throughout the nation and assigns them to a final congressional vote count. This takes power
away from two factions: large lobbying interests and the tyrannical majority. Whereas the
United States Senate will still be able to maintain majority rules voting, the House of
Representatives will be able to counter that by allowing each citizen proportional to the
population represented by the House of Representatives.
No longer will lobbying parties be able to appeal to particular States that hold a greater number
of Congressional Votes simply to pass laws and actions favorable to those lobbying parties. The
Federal laws and actions will have to appeal to the States with fewer voting districts as well as
those with many districts. Because the larger States will not hold such a disproportionately
greater sway over the passing of laws simply because they have more Congressional votes, the
laws passed and actions conducted within the Federal government will have to appeal to
everybody in the nation.
No one group of States will be able to dictate law to any other State simply because there are
more people in one State than the other. Citizens’ districts with smaller populations will have
proportionally greater authority than those who are constituents in districts with greater
populations. This proportional difference will be balanced against the population difference in
larger districts. In the larger districts, more people will be able to vote to balance the
proportional difference in the distribution of the Constituent Votes in the smaller districts. This
will provide greater equality between States in the House of Representatives. As it stands now,
States such as California, New York, Texas, and Florida hold greater power by themselves in the
House of Representatives than Louisiana, Wyoming, and New Mexico combined. This fractional
vote will equalize the power of the States in the Federal government.
---A.P.---
Copyright 2010
Fractional Voting for the United States House of Representatives
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