The United States has not always had single-member districts with their Gerrymandering and Safe Seat issues; prior to 1967, the House moved back and forth between having multi-member and single-member districts. Then in that year, congress passed a law requiring single-member districts, and it is sadly still in place.
With a change to multi-member districts, states likely would have districts of three-to-six seats – with the exception of those whose population only justifies one or two House seats. An election for a five-member district would select those five members. Candidates representing several parties could be on the ballot; having more parties would promote civility, negotiation, and consideration of more than two viewpoints in congress, something badly needed in these years of polarization and perpetually kicking serious problems down the road. Elections would use a proportional voting system like Ranked Choice Voting to rank candidates on the ballot, facilitating fair representation, meaning those elected would represent voters more proportionally than with our present electoral systems.
Many advanced countries now use these electoral systems, and they have an average of around 3.3 parties compared to America’s 2.0, and benefit from legislative negotiation among a wider range of philosophies, enabling agreement to solutions palatable to a broader range of their voters. Coalitions are formed on an issue-by-issue basis among the parties.
Safe districts – now said to be around 90% of those in the House – would be a thing of the past as would the very divisive and unfair Gerrymandering that creates them. A larger percentage of voters would have a representative for whom they had voted. More people would vote in elections.
America can move to multi-member districts just as easily as it did in 1967 to create single-member districts and all the problems that flow from them. It should do so.
A much more detailed explanation of the above can be found in our website www.solveamericangridlock.com.
We would certainly welcome your interest in becoming a volunteer or donor or both to spread the word about this serious gridlock issue and what can and must be done.
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