Project 3 How Much Does My Vote

Count? - SOLUTION
Name: __________________
Section: _________________

Part 1 Where Does My Vote Count The Most?

State

Indiana

Ohio

Wisconsin South
Carolina

Washington Total

Population

6,483,802

11,536,504

5,686,986

4,625,364

6,724,540

Representatives

16

10

50

State

Indiana

Ohio

Wisconsin South
Carolina

Washington Total

Population

6,483,802

11,536,504

5,686,986

4,625,364

6,724,540

Actual
Representation
Hamilton
Method
Jefferson
Method
Webster
Method
Hill-Huntington
Method

16

10

50

16

10

50

17

10

50

16

10

50

16

10

50

Which method(s) gives numbers that match the actual representation?

Answers may vary.
Did any method give you values that were very far off of the actual representation? If
so, why do you think that is?
Answers may vary.
State

Indiana

Ohio

Wisconsin South

Washington Total

Carolina
Population

6090782

11374540

5371210

4025061

5908684

Actual
Representation
2000
Hamilton
Method
Jefferson
Method
Webster
Method
Hill-Huntington
Method

18

50

16

48

17

10

50

18

50

18

50

Which, if any, of your states gained/lost representatives between 2000 and 2010?
Answers will vary.

How did that compare to the population increase/decrease for that state?
Answers will vary. Students should talk about how the population increased/decreased
(and ideally, by what percent) compared to the increase/decrease of representatives

If you want your vote to count the most, which state would you choose to live in and
why?

Ohio

Answers will vary, depending on the states chosen, the method chosen, and the census year.
Sample responses:
o I would choose Ohio in the 2000 census if they used the Hill Huntington method,
because the standard quota gives the state 16 representatives, but they actually got 18.
That means they have a higher quota of representatives compared to their population
that other states. They have 4.13% of the total representatives but only 4.04% of the
total population.

2000

2010

Population
Actual
Representation
Hamilton
Method
Jefferson
Method
Webster
Method
Hill-Huntington
Method

11374540
18

11536504
16

16

16

17

17

18

16

18

16

How much did the population change in Ohio between 2000 and 2010?
Increased by 161964 people from 2000 to 2010

What percentage of the population of the US was made up by Ohio, in 2000 and 2010?
Total population of US in 2000: 281,421,906
Total Population of US in 2010: 308,745,538
Percent in 2000 4.04%
Percent in 2010 3.73%

What percentage of the actual representation was made by Ohio, in 2000 and 2010?
2000 18/435 = 4.13%
2010 - 16/435 = 3.67%

Which do you think was a better actual representation for the state of Ohio 2000 or
2010? Why?
2010 was closer to the actual percentage (.06% below) compared to 2000 (.09%
above). Answers can discuss whether it is better to underprepresent or overrepresent
for a state. Answers may vary.
Which of the methods give you different results for 2010 and 2000 for Ohio?

Webster and Hill-Huntington

Why do you think the number of representatives changed between 2000 and 2010 for
the state of Ohio?
Answers may vary.

Part 2 Tell Me More

How many Democratic counties are there? Republican?
28 Democratic, 64 Republican
What percentage of counties are Democratic and Republican?
30% Democrat, 70% Republican.

List at least one observation about the state of Indiana.

Mostly Republican, Democratic counties are the counties with most of the bigger cities

Can you come up with any hypothesis about why certain counties are Democratic or
Republican?
Answers may vary. Most of the Democratic counties have the biggest cities in Indiana

Explain one reason for gerrymandering, and one reason against gerrymandering.