Why Not Have a Census Every Four Years to Apportion Representation?

The Constitution requires a census every ten years so that political representation can be apportioned properly, right? That’s what I thought until I read the text of Article I, Section 2: “Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States... according to their respective Numbers... . 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.”

You see it, right? It says within.

Now read this by taking out “within”: “The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and … every subsequent Term of ten Years.”

If we held a census every four years, we would comply with the Constitution—we’d be “within” ten years.

Why would we want to consider this?

The Supreme Court just ruled that federal courts cannot remedy gerrymandering. That is the single-most undemocratic practice in the U.S. 

Democrats abuse it in Illinois; Republicans abuse it in Wisconsin; the list goes on.

Reapportioning seats every four years would tend to make our elections more competitive simply by accelerating the apportionment cycle. Not only could we throw out the bums—we could redraw the maps that protect the bums.

Another reason? Population shifts occur more rapidly in 2019 than 1787. Why not adjust political representation in real-time?

But it’s expensive, isn’t it? Yes! But would you be willing to pay taxes to have a more competitive political system?

The extreme polarization might be tempered.