United States Congressional Apportionment - Constitutional Text

Constitutional Text

The subject of representation is addressed twice in the U.S. Constitution. Originally, the apportionment of House seats was commanded by Article I, Section 2, clause 3, which states:

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.

Following the end of the Civil War, the above provision was superseded by Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment, which states:

Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed.

Article I additionally provides that:

The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative...