Wilmington, Delaware: Two Voters Sue Commerce Secretary Seeking a Second US House Seat for Delaware
Two Delaware voters filed suit on November 11 in federal district court in Washington, seeking a second US House seat for Delaware and challenging the House's fixed size of 435 seats, in place for nearly a century. The plaintiffs are University of Delaware professor David Redlawsk and Delaware resident Kevin Price. The defendants include Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Commerce Department official George Cook, who is performing the duties of Census Bureau director, and House Clerk Kevin McCumber.
The complaint notes that under the 2020 census, Delaware's 990,837 residents share a single House seat, while Montana, with 1,085,407 people, has two — the largest disparity in representation ratio between any two states. The plaintiffs ask a three-judge panel to declare the 435-seat cap set by the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929 unconstitutional and to order Congress to fix it by a deadline; if Congress does not act, they ask the court to add a 436th seat before the 2028 election so Delaware would have two representatives.
Delaware last had two House seats in the 19th century, losing the second after reapportionment following the 1820 census. The Commerce Department and the House Clerk have not yet responded to requests for comment, and no hearing date has been set.
Source: Democracy Docket
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：特拉华州议会大厦（多佛）。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，Ken Lund from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA 摄，CC BY-SA 2.0。 Image: Delaware Legislative Hall in Dover. Source: Wikimedia Commons, photo by Ken Lund from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0.
