Delaware voters sue to create a 436th seat in the House – after the state lost one in 1823

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Activists argue their fellow citizens are under-represented

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Two Delaware voters are suing the U.S. government in an attempt to get back a seat in the House of Representatives that their state lost in a census-based revision 203 years ago.

In a lawsuit, filed Wednesday with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, against the Department of Commerce – which administers the census – activists David Redlawsk and Kevin Price argue that the current 435-seat cap in the House is unconstitutional.

“The Constitution requires representation according to population,” the complaint reads. “Article I, Section 2 establishes that requirement, and Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment reaffirms it: ‘Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers.’”

Redlawsk and Price argue that the current state of play does not honor that direction because their state is allowed just one member in the lower chamber of Congress – currently Democratic Rep. Sarah McBride – who is expected to represent a far greater proportion of the population than elsewhere.

Delaware is the 45th most populous state in the U.S. and has an estimated 990,837 citizens who receive “23.2 percent less representation per person than the national average,” the plaintiffs calculate.

Rhode Island, the next largest state according to population size, meanwhile sends two elected officials to Washington, illustrating the unfairness, the suit claims.

“The 435-seat limitation imposes a severe and avoidable disparity on Delaware’s voters,” Redlawsk and Price complain, proposing the revival of the old second seat lost in 1823 as the only remedy.

“A second Delaware seat would satisfy the Constitution’s requirements for whole seats, state boundaries, and at least one representative for every state. The statute’s age and automatic operation supply no justification for continuing to deny Delaware that representation.”

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