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The unanticipated effect of COVID‐19 on house apportionment

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  • Jonathan Cervas
  • Bernard Grofman

Abstract

It is well understood thateven small differences in population can have a disproportionate impact on representation in the U.S. House of Representatives after a decennial census because of the peculiarities of rounding rules that require integer allocations. While the COVID‐19 pandemic can be held responsible for accelerating the trend toward the increased use of mail‐in balloting, and it affected the ability of the census to collect in‐person information, here we call attention to an unanticipated effect of the pandemic on the electoral process that, as far as we are aware, has never previously been identified. By rerunning the apportionment numbers for all states under the assumption that deaths from COVID‐19 prior to the start of the Census had not occurred, we show that New York's congressional delegation would not have lost a seat. New York was the only state whose House seat allocation was affected by disproportionate COVID‐19 deaths.

Suggested Citation

  • Jonathan Cervas & Bernard Grofman, 2021. "The unanticipated effect of COVID‐19 on house apportionment," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(5), pages 2432-2434, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:socsci:v:102:y:2021:i:5:p:2432-2434
    DOI: 10.1111/ssqu.13058
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