Media impact on the special election

[Garrett Wollman]

<<On Sat, 23 Jan 2010 13:31:43 -0500, "Dan.Strassberg" <dan.strassberg@att.net> said:

> Are you sure??? I'm not on a position to declare that you are wrong
> but what you're saying makes little sense to me. I'd appreciate a
> reference.

The United States Constitution is the reference.  It never mentions
anything about districts (or constituencies, the traditional English
term for electoral districts), although the Framers were undoubtedly
familiar with the concept since that was how the British Parliament at
Westminster was organized.  The only residency requirement for
Representatives is that they live in the state they represent.  (As
with Westminster, there is no requirement to live in the constituency
and local government may not impose any further restriction.)

> If you are correct, why aren't all representatives elected at-large
> instead of being voted on only in their "own" districts?

Because Congress has forbidden the practice (except, obviously, in
states with only one Representative).

-GAWollman