Rather then citizens voting directly on every issue and passing or voting the issue down by popular vote, citizens elect people to represent and vote on their behalf. States are divided into congressional districts according to population. The greater the population, the mire districts each state has. Residents in each district votes for one candidate to represent them in the federal government in the U.S House of Representatives. They also elect 2 Senators to represent the state in federal government, in the U.S. Senate.