I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2690 

To provide that a State may use a proportional voting system for multiseat 

congressional districts, to require the use of instant runoff voting in 

certain elections for Federal office, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 26, 2005 

Ms. MCKINNEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide that a State may use a proportional voting system 

for multiseat congressional districts, to require the use 

of instant runoff voting in certain elections for Federal 

office, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Voter Choice Act of 

5 2005’’. 
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1 TITLE I—PERMITTING USE OF 

2 MULTISEAT DISTRICTS FOR 

3 HOUSE ELECTIONS 

4 SEC. 101. MULTISEAT DISTRICTS PERMITTED FOR ELEC5 TION OF REPRESENTATIVES FOR STATES 

6 WITH A PROPORTIONAL VOTING SYSTEM. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the Act entitled 

8 ‘‘An Act for the relief of Doctor Ricardo Vallejo Samala 

9 and to provide for congressional redistricting’’, approved 

10 December 14, 1967 (Public Law 90–196; 2 U.S.C. 2c), 

11 a State that is entitled to more than one Representative 

12 in Congress may establish a number of districts for elec13 tion of Representatives that is less than the number of 

14 Representatives to which the State is entitled so long as 

15 Representatives are elected under a system which meets 

16 the following conditions: 

17 (1) The system meets the constitutional stand18 ard of majority rule and of individuals having equal 

19 voting power. 

20 (2) The system ensures the election of any can21 didate in a multiseat district who receives a share of 

22 votes cast that is at least one vote greater than one23 third of the total number of votes cast in the dis24 trict. 
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1 (3) The number of residents per Representative 

2 is equal for all Representatives elected in the State. 

3 (b) NO RESTRICTION ON SELECTION.—Nothing in 

4 subsection (a)(2) may be construed to prohibit a State 

5 from using a system under which a candidate may be 

6 elected with less than one-third of the total votes cast in 

7 a multiseat district. 

8 (c) SINGLE-SEAT DISTRICTS PERMITTED IN STATES

9 USING MULTISEAT DISTRICTS.—A State establishing 

10 multiseat districts under this title may establish such dis11 tricts for the election of all Representatives in the State 

12 or in combination with one or more single-seat districts. 

13 SEC. 102. RELATION TO VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965. 

14 The rights and remedies established by this title are 

15 in addition to all other rights and remedies provided by 

16 law, and the rights and remedies established by this title 

17 shall not supersede, restrict, or limit the application of the 

18 Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.). Noth19 ing in this title authorizes or requires conduct that is pro20 hibited by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 

21 et seq.). 
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1 TITLE II—INSTANT RUNOFF VOT2 ING FOR FEDERAL ELEC3 TIONS 

4 SEC. 201. REQUIRING USE OF INSTANT RUNOFF VOTING 

5 FOR GENERAL ELECTIONS FOR FEDERAL OF6 FICE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi8 sion of law and except as provided in subsection (b), each 

9 State shall conduct general elections for Federal office 

10 held in the State during 2008 and each succeeding year 

11 using an instant runoff voting system, and shall ensure 

12 that the voting equipment and technology used to conduct 

13 the elections is compatible with such a system. 

14 (b) EXCEPTION FOR HOUSE ELECTIONS IN

15 MULTISEAT DISTRICTS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply 

16 with respect to any election for the office of Member of 

17 the House of Representatives which is held in a multiseat 

18 district (as provided in title I). 

19 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this title, the following defini20 tions apply: 

21 (1) The term ‘‘Federal office’’ has the meaning 

22 given such term in section 301(3) of the Federal 

23 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(3)). 
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1 (2) The term ‘‘instant runoff voting system’’ 

2 means a system for the election of candidates under 

3 which— 

4 (A) runoff counts of candidates are con5 ducted in rounds; 

6 (B) voters may rank candidates on the bal7 lot according to the order of preference; 

8 (C) if in any round no candidate receives 

9 a majority of the votes cast, the candidate with 

10 the fewest number of votes is eliminated and 

11 the remaining candidates advance to the next 

12 round; 

13 (D) in each round, a voter shall be consid14 ered to have cast one vote for the candidate the 

15 voter ranked highest on the ballot who has not 

16 been eliminated; and 

17 (E) the runoff counts are carried out auto18 matically at the time the votes are cast and tab19 ulated. 

20 (3) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several 

21 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 

22 of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, and the 

23 United States Virgin Islands. 
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1 SEC. 202. GRANTS TO STATES TO DEFRAY COSTS OF ADMIN2 ISTERING INSTANT RUNOFF VOTING SYSTEM. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM.—There is 

4 established a program under which the Election Assist5 ance Commission (hereafter in this title referred to as the 

6 ‘‘Commission’’) shall make grants to eligible States to de7 fray the costs of administering an instant runoff voting 

8 system or a proportional voting system, including the costs 

9 of purchasing voting equipment, software, and other tech10 nology necessary for such a system. 

11 (b) PLAN FOR PROGRAM.—Not later than 60 days 

12 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commis13 sion shall develop and make public a plan describing the 

14 criteria to be used in the solicitation and approval of appli15 cations for grants under this title and the criteria to be 

16 used in overseeing the use of funds provided under such 

17 grants, except that under such criteria the Commission 

18 may not require a State to match any portion of the 

19 amount awarded as a condition of eligibility. 

20 (c) ELIGIBILITY OF STATES.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State is eligible to receive 

22 a grant under the program under this section if it 

23 submits to the Commission (in such form and man24 ner as the Commission may require) an application 

25 containing such information and assurances as the 

26 Commission may require. 
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1 (2) DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION.—The Com2 mission may not consider an application for a grant 

3 under this section unless the application is sub4 mitted prior to the expiration of the 60-day period 

5 which begins on the date the Commission makes 

6 public the plan developed under subsection (b). 

7 (3) DEADLINE FOR RESPONSE.—The Commis8 sion shall approve or reject an application submitted 

9 under this subsection not later than 120 days after 

10 receiving the application. 

11 (4) CRITERIA FOR REJECTION.—The Commis12 sion may not reject an application submitted under 

13 this subsection unless it finds that— 

14 (A) the equipment, software, or other tech15 nology used to administer elections in the State 

16 is not compatible with an instant runoff voting 

17 system or a proportional voting system; or 

18 (B) the State does not provide for appro19 priate education for voters, poll workers, and 

20 election officials in the use of an instant runoff 

21 voting system or a proportional voting system. 

22 (d) CAP ON AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of 

23 any grant awarded to a State under the program under 

24 this section may not exceed the product of— 
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1 (1) the number of residents in the State at the 

2 time the grant is awarded (based on the most recent 

3 decennial census); and 

4 (2) $12. 

5 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

6 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the pro7 gram under this section— 

8 (1) $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; and 

9 (2) such sums as may be necessary for fiscal 

10 year 2007 and each succeeding fiscal year. 

11 SEC. 203. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS. 

12 Nothing in this title may be construed to supersede 

13 or conflict with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 

14 1973aa et seq.) or the National Voter Registration Act 

15 of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg et seq.). 

Æ