In an unprecedented decision, the US Court of Appeals upheld the district court’s remedial plan for cumulative voting in South Dakota. The case, Cottier v. City of
Martin (SD), resulted in the requirement of implementing cumulative voting for electing city council members- the first ever judicial imposition of a proportional voting system.
The lower court had found the City’s redistricting plan to dilute the Native
American vote and therefore violated Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights
Act. The initial suit was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on
behalf of two Native Americans against the City of Martin. According to the
2000 census, Native Americans were 44.7% of the total population constituting
36% of the voting age population. Since 1981, the city has elected only four
Native Americans winning a total of seven city council elections of 80
elections for city council (8.75%). To read the Court of Appeal’s decision
please visit: Cottier v.
City of Martin
Read more on Cumulative
Voting in South Dakota
In a representative democracy, the right of decision belongs to the majority, but the right to representation belongs to all. FairVote advocates for adoption of proportional voting systems for local and state elections, and for an informed debate about their merits for congressional elections.
PR Win in South Dakota
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New Zealand's capital city votes to keep choice voting
Growing number of major cities adopting PR and IRV
 New Zealand continues to show leadership in providing its voters with
fair representation and meaningful ballot choices. After a three-week
postal voting campaign, on September 27th the city of Wellington (the
nation's capital and its second largest city) announced that a majority
voted to keep the choice voting method of proportional representation for
city council elections and instant runoff voting for its mayoral
elections. Proponents won based on such arguments as choice voting
leading to the election of more women and young candidates to
office.The 5th largest city Dunedin also elects its leadership with choice voting and instant runoff voting, as do several smaller cities, and all the nation's health boards are elected by choice voting -- called "single transferable vote" in New Zealand. New Zealand in 1993 voted to change its parliamentary elections from U.S.-style winner-take-all voting to the mixed member method of proportional representation. News releases on Sept. 8 and Sept. 18 by Wellington reformers Wellington 2007 election results New Zealand government page on choice voting How New Zealand voted to adopt "MMP" |
Cincinnati to vote on proportional representation:
Endorsements grow in effort to restore choice voting
 Cincinnati, Ohio will vote in November on bringing back the ranked choice
voting form of proportional representation for city council elections.
The city currently uses a winner-take-all system that too often shuts out
new voices from council, leading to a citizen's initiative this summer
that turned in more than 15,000 signatures. Better Ballot Cincinnati has
impressive support, including some of the city's most respected political
leaders, Common Cause, ACORN and other civic groups from across the
spectrum. On September 20th, the measure picked up the editorial support
of the Cincinnati Business Courier. FairVote's founding meeting was in Cincinnati in 1992 and it has deep roots and connections in the city. We are working closely with local backers to make sure they have all the information they need for this historic campaign. Better Ballot Cincinnati Cincinnati Business Courier Editorial |
