THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

House of Representatives

Size and Terms

There are 435 members in the House They are apportioned based on population Each state is guaranteed one representative Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota,

South Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming Some territories have representatives that

are not full members of the House They are chosen every two years

No limit on the number of terms they may serve People have tried to pass a limit amendment

Term Limit Propaganda

Term Limit Propaganda

Reapportionment

Each ten years the House is reapportioned The nation grew very quickly

So did Congress By 1910 it had grown to 435 members

The Reapportionment act of 1929 set the size at 435 Each seat is about 710,000 people The Census Bureau determines the number of

seats for each state Congress must “approve” the reapportionment

2010 Reapportionment

Congressional Elections

Elections are on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November of even years

Went into effect in 1872 Elections not conducted at the same

time as presidential elections are off-year elections

Typical for the president’s party to lose seats

Districts

There are 435 districts States set up districts No mention in the Constitution

Seats were filled at large Congress did away with at large elections in 1842

State legislatures draw the district lines They must be:

Contiguous Population equal Compact

Kansas Districts

Qualifications

There are two “types” of qualifications Formal and Informal

Formal: At least 25 years of age Citizen for at least 7 years Must live in the state you are elected from

Custom (not law) requires you live in the district you represent

Congress can not seat a member or throw one out Powell v. McCormack in 1969 said you cannot exclude

a member if they meet the requirements

Patrick Murphy (Youngest Member)

Expulsions and Punishment

Five people have been booted from congress Three in 1861 for “support of rebellion” Michael Myers in 1980 for corruption James Traficant in 2002 for bribery and tax

evasion People can be “punished”

People will often resign before being kicked out or punished

Informal Requirements

These deal more with ability to get votes Vary from State to State and district to

district Include:

Ethnicity Political experience Name familiarity