[Smokin' Joe]

Very few people were eligible to vote in the early days of the U.S., so there was clearly a disconnect between the number of eligible voters and the number of people. Proportional representation was based on population, not voting eligibility.

Precisely. To vote, one had to be free, white, male, 21, and a landowner. There were large numbers of people who were counted as population who were not eligible to vote.

We do need to eliminate the illegal aliens from the equation, though. They are not supposed to be here in the first place.

[Alberta's Child]

The way to eliminate illegal aliens from the equation is to simply deport them. Then this whole issue becomes nothing more than an academic discussion.