I know Voyager ' s original XO was a lieutenant commander , but I want to say Chakotay was given the provisional rank of full commander . If nothing else , that would have helped keep the Maquis happy at first because it would have left Chakotay solidly senior in both position and rank to the next most senior officer , namely Tuvok . That being said , if Chakotay were a provisional lieutenant commander , I would argue that that would actually make a case for Ransom to only be reduced the single grade in taking over as XO . Keeping the chain of command clear is critical in a military or militarystyle organization . <| sep |> Wait , I thought we were talking about actual military branches ? <| sep |> The way it was set up , the most populous states now would have a lot more reps , but we limited the amount of reps because we felt it was getting out of hand , which gave disproportionate weight to small states now seeing as they get 3 electorates automatically .