Cite as: 503 U. S. 442 (1992)
Opinion of the Court
bers, given the fact that it is impossible for all States to have districts of the same size, the best method was the one that minimized the discrepancy between the size of the dis-Smallest Divisors: n11
Harmonic Mean: 2(n11)n
(n11)`n
Equal Proportions: EDDDD n(n11)
Major Fractions: n112
Greatest Divisors: n Thus, the divisors for the second, third, fourth, and fifth Representative of a State are as follows:
Smallest Divisors: 1, 2, 3, 4
Harmonic Mean: 222, 423, 624, 825
3 5 7 9
Equal Proportions: EDDF EDDF EDDF EDDF
221, 322, 423, 524
Major Fractions: 3 5 7 9
2, 2, 2, 2
Greatest Divisors: 2, 3, 4, 5 See ibid. For example, the 1990 census indicated that the most populous States were California and New York. California had a population of 29,839,250, and New York had a population of 18,044,505. See 2 App. 20. Under the method of smallest divisors, the quotients are: second seat third seat
(divisor: (divisor: n1141) n1142) California 29,839,250 14,919,625 New York 18,044,505 9,022,252 See 2 App. 53. Under the method of greatest divisors, the quotients are: second seat third seat
(divisor: (divisor: n42) n43)
California 14,919,625 9,946,417 New York 9,022,252 6,014,835 Under any method, the first 50 seats are assigned one to each State. If the method of smallest divisors is employed, the 51st seat is assigned to California, and the 52d seat is assigned to New York. Under the method of greatest divisors, however, California is assigned both the 51st and the 52d seats because the quotient for its third seat is 9,946,417, which is higher than the quotient for New York's second seat, which is 9,022,252.
453
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