{
  "id": "RS21585",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RS21585",
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  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
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    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 346915,
      "date": "2003-08-07",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-08T14:40:21.696544",
      "title": "Congressional Redistricting: Is At-Large Representation Permitted in the House of Representatives?",
      "summary": "Section 2c of Title 2 of the U.S. Code requires members of the House of Representatives to be elected from single-member districts, however, Section 2a(c) requires Representatives to be elected at large if a state fails to create new districts after the reapportionment of seats following a decennial census. These apparently contradictory provisions raise questions about whether and under what circumstances federal law permits at-large representation in the House of Representatives. The legislative history of 2 U.S.C. \u00a7 2c is sparse because it was adopted as a Senate floor amendment to a House-passed private bill. In 1967, the same year that Section 2c was adopted, Congress had contemplated, but failed to pass, a more comprehensive bill that would have repealed Section 2a(c), thereby removing the apparent statutory inconsistencies. Addressing the tension between Section 2a(c) and Section 2c, as applied to a Mississippi redistricting plan, the Supreme Court in Branch v. Smith held that a federal district court was required to craft single-member districts. Although the issue remains unsettled, it appears that Section 2a(c) could provide options to the House of Representatives to seat an at-large delegation. H.R. 415 (108th Cong.), would establish a commission to make recommendations on the method by which Members of the House are elected, including examining alternatives to the current method. Such recommendations, if ultimately enacted, could affect current federal statutory provisions governing single-member and at-large representation in the House of Representatives.",
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      "typeId": "REPORTS",
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}