Responsiveness, Voting Rights and Continuity in Congressional Representation
By Jack Santucci
Published February 21st 2006
Flooding due to Hurricane Katrina caused property damage and mass population migration. The result is a potential crisis of Congressional representation with four dimensions: districts of unequal population, overload of constituent demands, Voting Rights Act liability and break in continuity of representation. This paper uses news reports from autumn 2005 to develop high and low population estimates for affected Congressional districts in southern Louisiana. Mid-decade census and redistricting are cumbersome processes not likely before the end of the decade. The paper recommends limited voting in one five-member district in their stead.
Election Day '09 was a roller-coaster for election reformers. Instant runoff voting had a great night in Minnesota, where St. Paul voters chose to implement IRV for its city elections, and Minneapolis voters used IRV for the first time—with local media touting it as a big success. As the Star-Tribune noted in endorsing IRV for St. Paul, Tuesday’s elections give the Twin Cities a chance to show the whole state of Minnesota the benefits of adopting IRV. There were disappointments in Lowell and Pierce County too, but high-profile multi-candidate races in New Jersey and New York keep policymakers focused on ways to reform elections; the Baltimore Sun and Miami Herald were among many newspapers publishing commentary from FairVote board member and former presidential candidate John Anderson on how IRV can mitigate the problems of plurality elections.