Election of Representatives The House of Representatives has a fixed number of 435 members. Its members serve for two years and then are up for reelection. In order to be elected to the House of Representatives, there are some requirements a candidate must meet. These qualifications are established in Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution. A candidate must be:
Since representation in the House is based on a state's population, every 10 years the U.S. Bureau of the Census counts how many people live in each state of the United States. Each state is broken down into congressional districts and there is one representative for each district. Every state has at least one congressional district. With each new census, the number of districts (and representatives) in each state is then adjusted.
Many states hold elections to decide which candidates will be on the ballot in the November general election. There can be three types of candidates on a ballot:
If a candidate is not opposed then there is no need for a primary and his/her name is automatically placed on the November ballot. The candidate who receives the most votes wins the election. Senate and Representative elections differ in who votes for the candidates. While all voters in a state may vote in a senatorial election, only those in a specific congressional district may vote for a representative for that district.
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