Through proportional representation electoral systems, like-minded groupings of voters win legislative seats in better proportion to their share of the population. Whereas winner-take-all elections award 100% of power to a 50.1% majority, proportional representation allows voters in a minority to win a fair share of representation. Proportional representation describes a broad range of methods that require at least some legislators to be elected in districts with more than one seat.

Proportional representation voting systems used in the United States include choice voting (voters rank candidates, and seats are allocated by efficiently distributing voters preferences using a proportional formula), cumulative voting (voters cast as many votes as seats and can give multiple votes to one candidate), and limited voting (voters have fewer votes than seats). Internationally, some proportional representation systems are based on voting for political parties, others for candidates. Some allow very small groupings of voters to win seats; others require higher thresholds of support to win representation. The common thread that defines proportional representation is promoting more accurate, balanced representation of the spectrum of political opinion. More than 100 communities in the United States use proportional representation, the Democrats require states to nominate presidential convention delegates by proportional representation, and almost all emerging democracies have chosen proportional representation. This family of electoral systems is becoming the international norm, with Iraq, Afghanistan, and the entire Eastern Bloc being recent welcome additions to the global community of proportional representation nations.

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September 5th 2001
Eugene, Ore., next to try preference voting?
The Columbian

Examining recent Eugene, Oregon legislation allowing instant-runoff voting elections, the obstacles in acutally enacting such legislation are discussed at length.

August 20th 2001
Hard-won voting rights always in peril
San Francisco Examiner

We must break from the two-party system, institute proportional representation, implement instant runoff voting (IRV), and begin direct election of the President in order to truly level the playing field for minorities and women.

July 5th 2001
Try Changing the County Charter
The Monterey County Herald

Redistricting is allowing representatives to elect their voters; therefore, to eliminate this problem, proportional representation needs to be implemented argues Nat S. Lerner.

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