TO FIGHT SIDE-EFFECT OF BORDER CRISIS, HYDE-SMITH COSPONSORS ‘EQUAL REPRESENTATION ACT’
Bill would End the Counting of Illegal Immigrants in Determining Electoral College Votes, Congressional District Apportionment
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) today cosponsored legislation intended to end the practice of counting illegal immigrants to determine congressional apportionment and, therefore, Electoral College votes.
Hyde-Smith is an original cosponsor of the Equal Representation Act, which would ensure that only legal U.S. citizens are factored into the count for congressional districts and the Electoral College map that determines presidential elections. U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) introduced the bill Thursday.
“The current system of counting illegal immigrants for apportionment unfairly diminishes Mississippians’ status in everything from congressional representation to access to federal programs. It’s not right,” Hyde-Smith said. “The Equal Representation Act charts a path for righting this wrong and, importantly, beginning to restore trust in our democracy.”
“It is unconscionable that illegal immigrants and non-citizens are counted toward congressional district apportionment and our electoral map,” said Hagerty. “While people continue to flee Democrat-run cities, desperate Democrats are back-filling the mass exodus with illegal immigrants so that they do not lose their seats in Congress or their electoral votes for the presidency, hence artificially boosting their political power and in turn diluting the power of other Americans’ votes. I’m pleased to introduce this legislation that would require a citizenship question on the census and will ensure that only citizens are counted in congressional redistricting.”
The legislation was crafted after a video revealed a Democrat Congresswoman openly calling for more illegal immigration to her New York congressional district because she “needs more people in her district for redistricting purposes.”
The current method of counting illegal immigrants for purposes of representation serves as a perverse incentive for open borders to boost the relative political power of the states and voters that court it. In a state like California, for example, millions of illegal alien residents result in that state getting several more congressional seats and Electoral College votes. As such, being a magnet for illegal immigration increases the power of a Californian’s vote relative to an individual in another state.
The Equal Representation Act:
- Requires that the Census Bureau include a citizenship question on any future census to provide a greater understanding of the U.S. population and delineate between citizens and non-citizens for apportionment purposes;
- Prohibits non-citizens from being counted for purposes of congressional district and Electoral College apportionment; and
- Requires that the Census Bureau publicly report on certain demographic data.
The measure is also cosponsored by U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), and J.D. Vance (R-Ohio).
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