How Adding Senators from Puerto Rico and DC Would Address Under-Representation

Michael Ettlinger and Jordan Hensley

(In light of the vote in the House of Representatives on DC Statehood, there is an updated version of this article).

A reader of The Vastly Varying Importance of American Voters, Harry Stein, asked how expanding the U.S. Senate to include senators from Puerto Rico and Washington, DC would affect the under- and over-represenatation of population groups in that body. This is of particular interest because, while it would take constitutional amendments to address some of the problems identified in The Vastly Varying Importance of American Voters, statehood is granted by act of Congress.

The answer to the question is in the following table (a negative number indicates under-representation, a positive number over-representation):

More information on the methodology for this measure of under- and over-represenation can be found in the original piece.