Crapo, Risch and 17 Senate Colleagues Reintroduce Legislation to End Counting of Illegal Immigrants in Determining Electoral College Votes and Congressional District Apportionment

Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch (both R-Idaho) joined U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-Tennessee), a member of the Senate Rules Committee, and sixteen colleagues in reintroducing the Equal Representation Act, legislation to ensure that only legal citizens are factored into the count for congressional districts and the Electoral College map that determines presidential elections.  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.

“Only U.S. citizens should be included in Census Bureau counts to apportion congressional and Electoral College representation,” said Senator Crapo.  “This vital reform would prevent states like California and New York from padding their population totals with those here illegally to tip the scales and boost their political power in Washington, D.C.”

“Democrats are undermining the rights of U.S. citizens by encouraging illegal immigrants to enter our country and skew congressional redistricting for political gain,” said Senator Risch.  “The Equal Representation Act requires that the Census Bureau include a citizenship question ensuring American values and voices take priority.”

“It is unconscionable that illegal immigrants and non-citizens are counted toward congressional district apportionment and our electoral map for the presidency, which also heavily skews the seat count in the U.S. House of Representatives,” said Senator Hagerty.  “While people continue to flee Democrat-run cities, desperate Democrats have back-filled the mass exodus with illegal immigrants so that they do not lose their seats in Congress or their electoral votes, hence artificially boosting their political power and in turn diluting the power of other Americans’ votes.  I’m pleased to lead my colleagues in reintroducing this legislation that would require a citizenship question on the census and will ensure that only citizens are counted in congressional redistricting.”

Currently, illegal immigrants are counted for congressional district apportionment and, therefore, Electoral College votes.  For example, in a state like California, millions of illegal alien residents result in California taking several more congressional seats and Electoral College votes than the state’s population of citizens would justify.  In other words, being a magnet for illegal immigration increases the power of a Californian’s vote relative to an individual in another state with less population boost from illegal immigration.  This creates a perverse incentive encouraging illegal immigration and resettlement to increase political power.

Co-sponsors of the legislation include Senators Katie Britt (R-Alabama), Ted Budd (R-North Carolina), Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), Steve Daines (R-Montana), John Hoeven (R-North Dakota), Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin), Jim Justice (R-West Virginia), James Lankford (R-Oklahoma), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), Pete Ricketts (R-Nebraska), Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri), Rick Scott (R-Florida), Tim Sheehy (R-Montana) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama).

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.

Background:

• In January 2024, Senate Republicans introduced the Equal Representation Act.
• In March 2024, every single Senate Democrat voted against the legislation as an amendment to appropriations bills, which put them on the record siding with illegal aliens over American citizens.
• The House of Representatives passed the Equal Representation Act on May 8, 2024.
• Following House passage, Senate Democrats once again blocked the legislation.
• In a hearing, former Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo admitted to Senator Hagerty that higher local illegal alien populations equal more congressional seats and electoral votes.

Full text of the legislation can be found here.

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