Edwards, Davidson introduce bill to stop illegal immigrants from skewing congressional representation and Electoral College votes

U.S. Congressman Chuck Edwards (NC-11) today introduced the Equal Representation Act to stop the inclusion of illegal immigrants in the count toward congressional district apportionment and the Electoral College map. Congressman Warren Davidson (OH-08) is co-leading this legislation.

Currently, illegal immigrants are counted for congressional district apportionment and impact Electoral College votes. This results in some states, like California and New York, having a greater influence over our electoral system, in the form of more congressional seats and Electoral College votes, than the states’ populations would warrant. The Equal Representation Act would:

• Mandate that the Census Bureau reinstate the citizenship question on the decennial census.
• Only allow United States citizens to count toward determining the number of congressional seats, which also affects Electoral College votes in presidential elections.
• Require public reporting of all information gathered from the citizenship question by state no later than 120 days after completion of the decennial census.

"Incentivizing illegal immigration and exploiting our democracy to skew the number of congressional seats or electoral votes for the presidency is immoral and a sure path to the downfall of our nation. Only American citizens can vote, and only American citizens should be counted when determining federal representation,” said Congressman Edwards.

“The purpose of the census is to obtain an accurate composition of our nation, and distinguishing between legal citizens and illegal immigrants is imperative to know who is in our country and to make policy decisions in the best interests of our citizens. The Equal Representation Act will make sure that American citizens - and American citizens only - are given fair and equal representation in their federal government. The rewarding of open border policies that are diluting the voice and votes of Americans must come to an end.”

“Congress represents American citizens, not illegals living in our country,” said Congressman Davidson. “The Biden administration’s open border policies necessitate our legislation to ensure fair representation for US citizens. Further, our bill guarantees equal protection under the laws of Congress and protects the value of US citizenship.”

Ryan Walker, executive vice president, Heritage Action said, “Decisions on redistricting, Congressional representation, and allocation of taxpayer resources should be based solely on the needs of American citizens. Including illegal aliens and noncitizens in Census data manipulates the numbers to put Americans last. Rep. Edwards’ bill puts voting power back in the hands of the American people and ensures the Census can’t be used to cheat hardworking taxpayers out of the representation they deserve.”