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In close races, no matter who wins, ~50% of voters will see their votes wasted. ”Our system of single-member plurality-winner congressional districts has accelerated polarization, made most voters irrelevant, and ratcheted up negative partisanship.” https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/4/26/15425492/proportional-voting-polarization-urban-rural-third-parties
“The Fair Representation Act would transform the patchwork of state-level congressional districts into a larger ones—with ~3 to ~5 members for each district. Members would be elected through ranked-voting, allowing voters to express their true preference.” https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/4/26/15425492/proportional-voting-polarization-urban-rural-third-parties
“The proposal is constitutional — states have quite a bit of leeway in selecting representatives — but it would require national legislation to reverse existing law mandating single-member districts. Historically, multi-member districts were once common.” https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/4/26/15425492/proportional-voting-polarization-urban-rural-third-parties
”Under the FairVote system, New York City might send a few moderate Republicans to Congress, plus a more ideologically diverse group of Democrats — and maybe even a few third-party candidates, who would contribute new perspectives and ideas.” https://fairvote.app.box.com/v/FairRepNewYork
”Here’s the bottom line. Our single-member, winner-take-all approach to elections might have worked okay during a period of low polarization, when more places had genuine two-party competition… But those things are in the past now.” https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/4/26/15425492/proportional-voting-polarization-urban-rural-third-parties
“Our electoral rules are now gasoline for the current conflagration of partisan polarization. Because the polarization is primarily ethnocultural and therefore geographical, congressional districts and most states are safe for one party or the other.” https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/4/26/15425492/proportional-voting-polarization-urban-rural-third-parties
”It would be far better if the entire nation shifted to an electoral system where everyone’s vote matters… one in which the incentives did not push political parties into zero-sum trench warfare but toward compromise and coordination that would solve pressing public problems.”
In sum, follow @leedrutman and check out his new book “Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop: The Case for Multiparty Democracy in America.” https://bookshop.org/books/breaking-the-two-party-doom-loop-the-case-for-multiparty-democracy-in-america/9780190913854
“By definition, candidates representing political minorities have greater difficulty amassing a majority of votes. Thus, in our current system, racial minorities have the right to vote, but are often denied the equally fundamental right to representation.” https://www.fairvote.org/how_proportional_representation_can_empower_minorities_and_the_poor
”Proportional representation allows for the emergence of a pluralistic multi-party system that could include parties speaking strongly for racial and ethnic minorities and people of all incomes and across the political spectrum.” https://www.fairvote.org/how_proportional_representation_can_empower_minorities_and_the_poor
See how redistricting would work in your state under the Fair Representation Act. “Voters in the majority will elect most of the winners, but not all of them. Voters in the minority also get a seat at the table.” https://www.fairvote.org/the_fair_representation_act_in_your_state
Alabama is nearly 30% Black and Democrats represent nearly 40% of the state but Alabama’s House delegation is currently 14% Democratic.
For more, check out this podcast interview: https://twitter.com/pmatzko/status/1322317997898346497
What do schools with with a “white prom” and a ”black prom” have to do with states that require majority run-off elections? Read Lani Guinier’s pioneering work on how “In a racially divided society, majority rule is not a reliable instrument of democracy.” http://bostonreview.net/archives/BR17.5/guinier.html
Another important point from @PaulHRosenberg: “In district-based elections, there are many wasted votes. All votes for a losing candidate are wasted, but so are all the extra votes the winning candidate receives beyond the 50% plus 1 needed for election.” https://twitter.com/PaulHRosenberg/status/1322570288190517249
