<x-flowed>Smith, Brad wrote:
Congress could also deal with the issue for congressional seats, and I expect it would.
It has no constitution authority to do that. The only authority Congress has is
provided in
The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of
the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years,
in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. (Art. I Sec. 2 Cl. 3)
The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and
Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but
the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to
the Places of chusing Senators. (Art. I Sec. 4 Cl. 1)
Amendment 13:
Section. 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied
or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or
previous condition of servitude.
Section. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
------
Nowhere in the above is there authorization to regulate the ways districts are
drawn, or even that there be single-member districts. States could
constitutionally elect members of the House of Representatives at large.
The 15th Amendment is the basis for the Voting Rights Act, which prescribes there
not be dilution of majority-minority districts. However, with the increasingly
even distribution of voters, it may become mathematically impossible to fulfill
that provision, which seems to have be written with the assumption that districts
will be drawn manually, but is inapplicable to districts drawn by a purely
mechanical process, without human intervention, which computers now make possible.
-- Jon
----------------------------------------------------------------
Our efforts depend on donations from people like you. Directions
for donors are at
http://www.constitution.org/whatucando.htm
Constitution Society 7793 Burnet Road #37, Austin, TX 78757
512/374-9585
www.constitution.org jon.roland@constitution.org
Get your free digital certificate from
http://www.thawte.com
----------------------------------------------------------------
</x-flowed>