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.

[more]

 

November 8th 1997
Shhh... Don't Wake the Voters

FairVote Chair John B. Anderson argues that implementing a proportional voting system would save the American public from the current political depression and increase voter turnout.

July 11th 1997
Case Closed: The Move to Fair Elections in Mexico and Elsewhere

FairVote's Rob Richie and Steven Hill argue that the winner-take-all elections in Mexico need to be replaced by proportional voting systems to ensure fair elections.

June 9th 1997
'Complicated' Is In the Eye of the Beholder

FairVote's Rob Richie and Steven Hill argue that winner-take-all elections in any country end in distorted results and need to be replaced by proportional voting systems.

[ Previous ] [ Next ]