APPORTIONMENT METHODS

MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD

Learning Objectives

At the end of the lesson,

students is expected to:
1. explain the different
apportionment
methods; and
2. apply the different
apportionment
methods in solving
problems.
What is apportionment?
• Apportionment is the problem of dividing up a fixed number of
things or objects among groups of different sizes.
• Apportionment is a method of dividing a population into several
parts.
What is apportionment?
• In politics, this takes the form of allocating a limited number of
representatives amongst voters. This problem, presumably is
older than the United States, but the best-known ways to solve it
have their origins in the problem of assigning each state an
appropriate number of representatives. The apportionment
problem does also come up in a variety of non-political areas.
• Is used to determine how many people a member of the house of
representative will represent
Some Basic Terminologies
Standard Divisor – the ratio between the total population and the total
number to apportion
Standard Quota – the whole number part of the quotient of a population
divided by the standard divisor
Standard Quota Lower (or Lower Quota) – the standard quota rounded
down to a whole number
Standard Quota Upper (or Upper Quota) – the standard quota rounded up
to a whole number.
 Apportionment
Rules
1. The thing being divided up can exist
only in whole numbers.
2. We must use all of the things being
divided up, and we cannot use any
more.
3. Each group must get at least one of
the things being divided up.
4. The number of things assigned to
each group should be at least
approximately proportional to the
population of the group. (Exact
proportionality isn’t possible because
of the whole number requirement, but
we should try to be close. In any
case, if Group A is larger than Group
B, then Group B shouldn’t get more of
the things than Group A does.)
 History
The first census was to be taken in
1790, less than three years after the
ratification of the Constitution. Once the
numbers were in, the Congress had to
decide how to use the data to apportion
the Representatives. They also had to
decide how many Representatives the
House should have. In the spring of
1792 they passed a bill to apportion the
House, using a method proposed by
Alexander Hamilton and now known as
Hamilton’s method.
LIST OF
APPORTIONMENT
METHODS
1. Hamilton’s Method(1850-1900)
2. Jefferson’s Method(1792-1832)
3. Adam’s Method (1832)
4. Webster’s Method (1842)
5. Huntington-Hill Method(1940-
PRESENT)
Hamilton’s Method

Alexander Hamilton proposed the method that now bears his

name. His method was approved by U.S. Congress in 1791,
but was vetoed by President Washington. It was later adopted
in 1852 and used through 1911. Hamilton’s method provides a
procedure to determine how many representatives each state
should receive. Though it was the first method to be proposed ,
it wasn’t used by the US Congress until 1850.
Hamilton’s Method Steps

1. Determine how many people each

representative should represent. Do this
by dividing the total population of all the
states by the total number of
representatives. The answer is called the
standard divisor or divisor

2. Divide each state’s population by

the divisor to determine how
many representatives it should
have. Record this answer to
several decimal places. This
answer is called the quota.
 Hamilton’s Method Steps

Since we can only allocate whole (number) representatives, Hamilton resolves

the whole number problem, as follows:

3. Cut off all the decimal parts of all the quotas (but don’t forget what the decimals
were). These are called the lower quotas. Then we add the lower quotas. This
sum will always be less than or equal to the total number of representatives.
4. Assuming that the total from Step 3 was less than the total number of representatives,
assign the remaining representatives, assign the remaining representatives, one each, to
the states whose decimal parts of the quota were the largest, until the desired total is
reached.

Make sure that each state ends up with at least one

representative!
Consider a country with 4 states and 30 seats in Congress
and populations distributed as in the table below.

States Population
A 27500
B 38300
C 46500
D 76700
Total 189000
Step 1. Compute for the Standard divisor (SD).
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑃𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 189000
𝑆𝐷 = = = 6300
𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑃𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝐴𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 30

Step 2. Compute the Standard Quota or Quota (SQ) per state.

𝑃𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒
𝑆𝑄 =
𝑆𝐷
States Population SQ
A 27500 4.3651
B 38300 6.0794
C 46500 7.3809
D 76700 12.1746
Total 189000
Step 3. Use the concept of Lower Quota (SQL).
SQL – round down all values in the Quota.

States Population SQ SQL

A 27500 4.3651 4
B 38300 6.0794 6
C 46500 7.3809 7
D 76700 12.1746 12
Total 189000 29
Step 4. If the total of the SQL is not the same with the total number of population, choose
the SQ with the highest decimal and add 1 to its corresponding SQL. Do this
until the total of the SQL is the same with the total population.

Number of
States Population SQ SQL Representatives by
Hamilton Plan
A 27500 4.3651 4 4
B 38300 6.0794 6 6
C 46500 7.3809 7 8
D 76700 12.1746 12 12
Total 189000 29 30

DECISION:
The number of representatives of States A, B, C, and D are 4, 6, 8, and 12
respectively.
Let’s try this one!!!
A teacher wishes to distribute 10 unique pieces of souvenir items among 4
students, based on how many pages of a book they read last month. The
table below lists the total number of pages read by each student.

Child Pages

Alan 580
How many souvenir items will each get using
Antonio 230
Hamilton’s Plan?
Alex 180

Lucas 130
Answer:
Number of
Name Pages SQ SQL
Souvenir Items
Alan 580 5.1786 5 5
Antonio 230 2.0536 2 2
Alex 180 1.6071 1 2
Lucas 130 1.1607 1 1
Total 1,120 9 10

DECISION: Alan will get 5 souvenirs, Antonio 2 souvenirs, Alex 2 souvenirs, and Lucas 1
souvenir from their teacher.
Quota Rule
The quota rule says that the final number of representatives a state
gets should be within one of that state’s quota. Since we’re dealing
with whole numbers for our final answers, that means that each state
should either go up to the next whole number above its quota, or
down to the next whole number below its quota.
Jefferson’s Method

• Thomas Jefferson proposed a new method of

apportionment after President Washington
vetoed Hamilton’s Method in 1791.
• Jefferson’s Method was used in Congress from
1791 to 1842.
• This method tends to favor larger states.
Jefferson’s Method Steps

1. Determine how many people each

representative should represent. Do this by
dividing the total population of all the states by
the total number of representatives. This
answer is called the standard divisor or divisor.
2. Divide each state’s population by the divisor to
determine how many representatives it should
have. Record this answer to several decimal
places. This answer is called the quota.
Jefferson’s Method Steps

3. Cut off all the decimal parts of all the quotas (but
don’t forget what the decimals were). These are the
lower quotas or initial apportionment. Add up these
whole numbers. This answer will always be less than
or equal to the total number of representatives.
If the total number of representatives from Step 3 was
less than the given total number of representatives,
reduce the divisor and recalculate the quota and
allocation. Continue doing this until total in Step 3 is
equal to the total number of representatives. The divisor
we end up using is called the modified divisor or
adjusted divisor.
 Provinces Population (2015 data*)
Sample Problem
Cavite 3,678,000
• DLSMHSI is planning to Batangas 2,694,000
conduct a region – wide
medical mission. Sixty-three Quezon 2,123,000
doctors pledged to be part
of it. If the number of Rizal 2,884,000
doctors that will be
assigned to each province
is based on their Laguna 3,035,000
population, how many
doctors will be assigned to
each province?
 Sample Problem
Number of
Provinces Population (2015 data*) SQ SQL Doctors by
Jefferson’s Plan
Cavite 3,678,000 16.0756 16
Batangas 2,694,000 11.7748 11
Quezon 2,123,000 9.2791 9
Rizal 2,884,000 12.6052 12
Laguna 3,035,000 13.2652 13
Total 14,414,000 61
First step: Find the Second step: Divide each province’s Third step: Since we’re still short of
Standard Divisor. population to get the SQ using the divisor. 2 doctors, we need to modify the
Just put up to 4 decimal places for the quota. divisor by reducing it to yield higher
14,414,000 / 63 = 228,793.6508
quota.
 Sample Problem
Number of Doctors by
Provinces Population (2015 data*) SQ SQL
Jefferson’s Plan

Cavite 3,678,000 16
16.6581 16
Batangas 2,694,000 12.2015 12 12
Quezon 2,123,000 9.6153 9 9
Rizal 2,884,000 13.0620 13 13
Laguna 3,035,000 13.7459 13 13
Total 14,414,000 63 63
First step: Let’s go back to first step, Second step: Divide each province’s Third step: Since we achieved 63,
this time, we’re going to change our population to get the quota using the now we are set to use the modified
divisor MSD. Just put up to 4 decimal places divisor of 220,793 for this problem.
for the quota.
Initial SD = 228,793.6508
Note: Getting the MSD is by trial and error. The only clue is that the MSD must be
Modified Standard Divisor
(MSD)= 220,793 lesser than the SD.
 Section No. of Students

Try solving this using 1A 42

Jefferson’s Method
1B 51
A college in DLSMHSI is
procuring 30 microscopes 1C 35
for first years this school
year 2019-2020. How 1D 23
many microscopes will be
distributed to each 1E 60
section?
Answer:
Number of
No. of SQ Microscopes per
Section SQ SQL SQL
Students (with MSD of 6.5) Section by
Jefferson’s Plan
1A 42 5.9716 5 6.4615 6 6
1B 51 7.2512 7 7.8462 7 7
1C 35 4.9763 4 5.3846 5 5
1D 23 3.2702 3 3.5385 3 3
1E 60 8.5308 8 9.2308 9 9
Total 211 27 30 30

DECISION: The number of microscopes for sections 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D and 1E are 6, 7, 5, 3,
and 9 respectively.
Adams’ Method
An apportionment method proposed by former U.S. President John Quincy Adams.
A method similar to both Jefferson and Webster which uses modified divisor.
The difference is the quota will be rounded up to the nearest whole number instead
of following the normal rule of rounding.
Since we’re rounding up quota, we can say that our total allocations will yield larger
number than the total number of representatives in the given problem so the modified
divisor must be greater than standard divisor.
Adams’ Method Steps
1. Determine how many people each representative should represent. Do this by dividing
the total population of all the states by the total number of representatives. This answer
is called the standard divisor.
2. Divide each state’s population by the divisor to determine how many representatives it
should have. Record this answer to several decimal place. This answer is called quota.
3. Round up all the quotas to the nearest whole number. Add the values, which can be
called initial allocation or initial apportionment.
4. If the sum of initial allocations is larger than our given allocations then modify the divisor
by increasing our standard divisor. Repeat step 2,3,4 until we are able to allocate all
representatives properly.
 Districts Population
Malaya 55,000

Masaya 30,012

Makabangon 25,758

Makabayan 15,123

A group of chemist was able to create anti-hunger pills. They plan to

give all 1200 pills they created to 4 districts to alleviate hunger due to
Sample Problem being quarantined caused by the pandemic illness. If they will base
the division of their pills to the number of the population in each
district, how many pills will each district receive?
Sample Problem
Number of Pills
Districts Population SQ SQU
per District
Malaya 55,000 524.2549 525

Masaya 30,012 286.0716 287

Makabangon 25,758 245.5229 246

Makabayan 15,123 144.1510 145

Total 125,893 1203

Standard Divisor = 125,893/ 1200 Since our initial allocation is above our total
= 104.9108 number of pills then we need to increase our
divisor to yield smaller quota.
 Sample Problem
Number of Pills
Districts Population Quota w/ MSD SQU per District by
Adam’s Method
Malaya 55,000 523.3111 524 524

Masaya 30,012 285.5566 286 286

Makabangon 25,758 245.0809 246 246

Makabayan 15,123 143.8915 144 144

Total 125,893 1200

2. Round up all quota. Then add. Since we achieved the
1. Standard Divisor = 125,893/ 1200 desired the total number of pills, it means our modified
= 104.9108 divisor for this problem is 105. 10
Modified Standard Divisor = 105.10
 Section No. of Students

Try solving this using 1A 42

Adam’s Method
1B 51
A college in DLSMHSI is
procuring 30 microscopes 1C 35
for first years this school
year 2019-2020. How 1D 23
many microscopes will be
distributed to each 1E 60
section?
Answer:
Number of
No. of SQ Microscopes per
Section SQ SQU SQU
Students (with MSD of 7.5) Section by
Adam’s Plan
1A 42 5.9716 6 5.6000 6 6
1B 51 7.2512 8 6.8000 7 7
1C 35 4.9763 5 4.6667 5 5
1D 23 3.2702 4 3.0667 4 4
1E 60 8.5308 9 8.0000 8 8
Total 211 32 30 30

DECISION: The number of microscopes for sections 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D and 1E are 6, 7, 5, 4,
and 8 respectively.
Webster’s Method
First proposed by Daniel Webster (1782-1852), a method very similar to Jefferson’s
Method and Adam’s Method.
The difference is that this method rounds the quota to the nearest whole number
rather than dropping it.
The Modified Standard Divisor (MSD) must be less than the Standard Divisor (SD)
when the total of the rounded sub-quotas is less than the required number of
representatives otherwise the MSD must be greater than the SD.
 Webster’s Method Steps
Determine how many people each representative should represent. Do this by dividing the total
population of all the states by the total number of representatives. This answer is called the
Standard Divisor.

Divide each state’s population by the standard divisor to determine how many representatives it
should have. Record this answer to several decimal place. This answer is called Standard Quota
or Quota.

Round all the Quotas to the nearest whole number (but don’t forget what the decimals were). Add
the values, which can be called initial allocation or initial apportionment.

If the total from Step 3 is less than the total number of representatives, reduce the standard divisor
and recalculate the quota and allocation. If it is larger, then increase the divisor and recalculate the
quota and allocation. Continue doing this until we meet the desired total number of allocation needed.
 Provinces Population (2015 data*)
Sample Problem
Cavite 3,678,000
• DLSMHSI is planning to Batangas 2,694,000
conduct a region – wide
medical mission. Sixty-three Quezon 2,123,000
doctors pledged to be part
of it. If the number of Rizal 2,884,000
doctors that will be
assigned to each province
is based on their Laguna 3,035,000
population, how many
doctors will be assigned to
each province?
Sample Problem
Number of Doctors by
Provinces Population (2015 data*) Quota SQ (RO)
Webster’s Plan
Cavite 3,678,000 16.0756 16 16
Batangas 2,694,000 11.7748 12 12
Quezon 2,123,000 9.2791 9 9
Rizal 2,884,000 12.6052 13 13
Laguna 3,035,000 13.2652 13 13
Total: 14,414,000 63

1. Find the standard divisor 2. Since the sum of the SQ(RO) is the same as the
number of people to apportion, then we are done.
14,414,000 / 63 = 228,793.6508
 Section No. of Students
Try solving this using
Webster’s Method 1A 44

1B 45
A college in DLSMHSI is
procuring 30 microscopes 1C 37
for first years this school
year 2019-2020. How 1D 30
many microscopes will be
distributed to each 1E 55
section?
Answer:
Number of Microscopes
No. of SQ
Section SQ SQ(RO) SQ (RO) per Section by Webster’s
Students (with MSD = 6.8)
Plan
1A 44 6.2560 6 6.4706 6 6
1B 45 6.3981 6 6.6176 7 7
1C 37 5.2607 5 5.4412 5 5
1D 30 4.2654 4 4.4118 4 4
1E 55 7.8199 8 8.0882 8 8
Total 211 29 30

DECISION: The number of microscopes for sections 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D and 1E are 6, 7, 5, 4,
and 8 respectively.
Huntington-Hill Method
It is credited to Edward Vermilye Huntington and Joseph Adna Hill.
A method very similar to Webster and Adams method used of rounding
numbers. But rounding off numbers depends on comparing the quota and its
geometric mean.
Historically in the U.S., President Franklin Roosevelt choose Huntington-Hill
method of apportionment in 1941 because it allot one more seat for the
Democrats which was Roosevelt’s party. This could mean a chosen method
might be politically motivated and not necessarily adopted because it is
mathematically proven to be the best.
Huntington-Hill’s Method Steps
1. Calculate the standard quota.
2. Determine the geometric mean(rounded to two decimal places) of each sub-
group’s lower quota and upper quota.
a. If the standard quota is less than the geometric mean, round the quota down.
b. If the standard quota is greater than or equal to the geometric mean, round the
quota up.
3. If the sum of rounded standard quotas equals the number of representatives, you
are done. Otherwise, choose a modified standard divisor and calculate the
modified quotas and rounded modified quotas. Repeat process until the required
number is achieved.
 Sample Problem Barangays
Population (data from
2015 census)

Fifty-five licensed health

workers plan to render their Zone 1 10,019
services for free here in the
barangays of the City of Zone 2 1,258
Dasmariñas during this
pandemic period. How many
licensed health workers will be Zone 3 5,168
assigned to each barangay?

Zone 4 3,271
 Sample Problem
Number of Health
Barangay Population Quota SQU SQL GM Workers by
Huntington-Hill Plan
Zone 1 10,019 27.9491 28 27 27.4955 28
Zone 2 1,258 3.5093 4 3 3.4641 4
Zone 3 5,168 14.4167 15 14 14.4914 14
Zone 4 3,271 9.1248 10 9 9.4868 9
Total 19,716 55

Since our answer is equals to 55 therefore our work is done. If ever the
Standard Divisor = 358.4727
answer isn’t equal to the required total number of representatives, modify
SQU (Standard Quota Upper) the divisor, and repeat the process until we achieved the desired number.
- values in the Quota round up GM (Geometric Mean) Note: In the Huntington-Hill Method (last column) if the
SQL (Standard Quota Lower) = (𝑆𝑄𝑈)(𝑆𝑄𝐿) Quota > GM round up otherwise round down
- values in the Quota round down
 Try this by Huntington-Hill Method
The national government procured a total of 1550 test kits for the five
regions in the country. If the distribution will be solely based on the
total number of PUIs and PUMs combined in the region. How many
test kits will each region receive? Assume that the total population of
the five regions is 560,506.

Regions PUIs and PUMs Population (by

percent)
A 10%
B 15%
C 20%
D 30%
E 25%
Video References:
1. Hamilton’s Method
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWfEqWLz9pc
2. Jefferson’s Method
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weGGVmy9yLc
3. Webster’s Method
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNybGTvz_hQ
4. Adams’ Method
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irHEV2TmUas
5. Huntington-Hill’s Method
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l74j-auLjZE