Huntington-

Hill Method
 Learning Objectives
>At the end of the session, the students are
expected to:

a. understand how the Huntington-Hill method of

apportionment works;
b. apply the Huntington-Hill method in solving apportionment
problems; and
c. articulate the importance of equal apportionment in
people’s lives.

2
 ACTIVITY
A college offers tutoring in Math, Enrollment
English, Chemistry, and Biology. Math 380
The number of students enrolled in English 240
each subject is listed on the right. Chemistry 105
The college can only afford to hire
Biology 55
22 tutors. Using Huntington-Hill’s
TOTAL 780
method, determine the
apportionment of the tutors.

How can we solve this problem using the Huntington-Hill method?

 Huntington-Hill Method
- This method of apportionment is
currently used to apportion the
representatives to the US House.
- This was proposed by Edward
Vermilye Huntington and Joseph
Adna Hill. Edward Vermilye
Huntington
- It has been used since the 1940
census and it is sometimes called
the METHOD OF EQUAL
PROPORTIONS. Joseph Adna Hill
 Huntington-Hill Method

- This method is similar to

Webster’s method, but
attempts to minimize the
percent differences of how
many people each
representative will
represent.
 STEPS OF THE HUNTINGTON-HILL
METHOD
STEP 1: Compute the standard divisor.

STEP 2: Divide the population of each state by the standard

divisor to obtain the QUOTA.

STEP 3: Cut off the decimal part of the quota to obtain the lower
quota, which we’ll call n.

STEP 4: Compute , which is the geometric mean of the lower

and one value higher.
 STEPS OF THE HUNTINGTON-HILL
PLAN
STEP 5: Round the quota according to the value of the geometric
mean of the lower and upper quotas and add up the resulting
whole numbers to obtain the initial allocation.

NOTE: If the quota is larger than

the geometric mean, round up the
quota. If the quota is smaller than
the geometric mean, round down
the quota
STEPS OF THE HUNTINGTON-HILL
PLAN
NOTE:
If the total from Step 5 was less than the total
number of representatives, reduce the divisor and
recalculate the quota and allocation. If the total from
step 5 was larger than the total number of
representatives, increase the divisor and recalculate
the quota allocation. Continue doing this until the total
in step 5 is equal to the number of representatives.
The divisor we end up using is called the modified
standard divisor or adjusted divisor.
 EXAMPLE 1
A college offers tutoring in Math, Enrollment
English, Chemistry, and Biology. The Math 380
number of students enrolled in each
English 240
subject is listed on the right. The college
can only afford to hire 22 tutors. Using Chemistry 105
Huntington-Hill’s method, determine the Biology 55
apportionment of the tutors.
TOTAL 780

STEP 1: Compute the standard divisor.

𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
Standard divisor ¿
𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
780
¿ ¿ 35.45
22
STEP 2: Divide the population of each state by the standard
divisor to obtain the QUOTA
Enrollment Quota Limit to 3
decimal
Math 380 10.719 places
English 240
6.770
Chemistry 105
2.962
Biology 55
1.551
TOTAL 780
STEP 3: Cut off the decimal part of the quota to obtain the lower quota, which we’ll call n.

Enrollment Quota Lower Quota

(n)
Math 380 10.719 10
English 240 6.770
6
Chemistry 105 2.962
2
Biology 55 1.551
1
TOTAL 780
STEP 4: Compute , which is the geometric mean of the lower and one value higher.

Enrollment Quota Lower Geometric Mean

Quota
(n)
Math 380 ≈10.719 10
≈10.488
English 240 ≈ 6.770 6
√ 6(6+1) ≈ 6.481
Chemistry 105 ≈ 2.962 2
√ 2(2+1) ≈ 2.449
Biology 55 ≈ 1.551 1
√ 1(1+1) ≈ 1.414
TOTAL 780
 STEP 5: Round the quota according to the value of the geometric mean of the lower and upper
quotas and add up the resulting whole numbers to obtain the initial allocation.

Enrollment Quota Lower Geometric Initial

NOTE: If the Quota Mean Allocation
quota is larger (n)
than the Math 380 ≈10.719 10 ≈ 10.488 11
geometric
mean, round English 240 ≈ 6.770 6 ≈ 6.481 7
up the quota. If Chemistry 105 ≈ 2.962 2 ≈ 2.449
the quota is 3
smaller than Biology 55 ≈ 1.551 1 ≈ 1.414
2
the geometric
mean, round TOTAL 780
23
down the
quota
 NOTE:
If the total from Step 5 was less than the total
number of representatives, reduce the divisor
and recalculate the quota and allocation. If the total
from step 5 was larger than the total number of
representatives, increase the divisor and
recalculate the quota allocation. Continue doing
this until the total in step 5 is equal to the number
of representatives. The divisor we end up using is
called the modified standard divisor or adjusted
divisor.
 Pick a Modified Divisor

TAKE NOTE: Modified Divisor is chosen by trial and

error
 Since the total number of representatives that we get is
larger than the exact number of representatives, we will
increase the divisor.

Assuming that we pick 37 as our modified divisor

STEP 2: Divide the population of each state by the modified
divisor to obtain the QUOTA
Limit to 3
Enrollment Quota
decimal
Math 380 10.270 places
English 240
≈ 6.486
Chemistry 105
≈ 2.838
Biology 55
≈ 1.486
TOTAL 780
STEP 3: Cut off the decimal part of the quota to obtain the lower quota, which we’ll call n.

Enrollment Quota Lower Quota

(n)
Math 380 10.270
10
English 240 6.486
6
Chemistry 105 2.838
2
Biology 55 1.486
1
TOTAL 780
STEP 4: Compute , which is the geometric mean of the lower and one value higher.

Enrollment Quota Lower Geometric Mean

Quota
(n)
Math 380 10.270 10
≈10.488
English 240 6.486 6
√ 6(6+1) ≈ 6.481
Chemistry 105 2.838 2
√ 2(2+1) ≈ 2.449
Biology 55 1.486 1
√ 1(1+1) ≈ 1.414
TOTAL 780
 STEP 5: Round the quota according to the value of the geometric mean of the lower and upper
quotas and add up the resulting whole numbers to obtain the initial allocation.

Enrollment Quota Lower Geometric Initial

NOTE: If the Quota Mean Allocation
quota is larger (n)
than the Math 380 10.270 10 ≈ 10.488 10
geometric
mean, round English 240 6.486 6 ≈ 6.481 7
up the quota. If Chemistry 105 2.838 2 ≈ 2.449
the quota is 3
smaller than Biology 55 1.486 1 ≈ 1.414
2
the geometric
mean, round TOTAL 780
22
down the
quota
 Did you understand the process of
apportioning using the Huntington-Hill
method?
 EXAMPLE 2
The state of Delaware has three countries: Kent, New Castle, and Sussex.
The Delaware state House of Representatives has 41 members. If Delaware
wants to divide this representation along country lines, let’s use Huntington-Hill
method to apportion them. The populations of the countries are as follows
(from the 2010 Census):

COUNTRY POPULATION a. What is the standard divisor?

Kent 162,310 Answer: 21,900.83
New Castle 538,479
Sussex 197,145
TOTAL 897,934
 b. What is the quota for each country?
c. What is the lower quota for each country?
d. What is the geometric mean for each country?
e. What is the number of representatives/initial allocation for each country?
Country Population Quota Lower Quota Geometric Initial
(n) Mean Allocation

Kent 162,310 ≈ 7.411 7 ≈ 7.483 7

New Castle 538,479 ≈ 24.587 24 ≈ 24.495 25

Sussex 197,145 ≈ 9.002 9 ≈ 9.487 9

TOTAL 897,934 41
Why is it important to equally apportion
things, human resources, and foods?
 ASSESSMENT
Direction: In a one whole sheet of paper, answer the following:

By Huntington-Hill method, apportioned the 50 new overhead projectors among the

divisions based on the enrollments. The following table shows the enrollments for the four
divisions of a college.
Division Enrollment
Health 1,280
Business 3,425
Engineering 1,968
Science 2,936
Total 9,609
• Note: Limit your answer into three decimal places

a) Were overhead projectors distributed proportionately to each division's enrollment?

Explain your answer.
ASSIGNMENT
Direction: Read in advance the next lesson which is
about the Plurality Method of Voting. Look for answers on
the following questions:
• How does the plurality method of voting works?
• What is the difference between the concept of
majority vote and plurality?
“There is only one thing that
makes a dream impossible to
achieve: the fear of failure.”

– Paulo Coelho