To mend fences after the Irish civil war, smart leaders are looking to set up a proportional voting system so political minorities won't be shut out of the government. After the American civil war, smart leaders in Illinois in 1870 set up a cumulative voting system, with three-member districts that gave political minorities a chance to elect a representative. We in Illinois have the best chance of any state in the Union to advance the cause. This is the season for annual corporate meetings, and many of them use cumulative voting to elect the Board of Directors. Abbott Labs, Hewlett-Packard, Toys R Us and Walgreen's are some major corporations that allow their shareholders to use cumulative voting.
Cumulative voting allows minority shareholders to elect a minority representative to the board.
Guinier describes the cumulative voting Illinois House as a model for inclusive politics, as political minorities like Chicago Republicans and DuPage County Democrats could have their voices heard in the House. Dawn Clark Netsch wrote a column in Crain's Chicago Business calling for a return to cumulative voting. For proof, just look at the legal battles that are still being fought over the current maps, drawn in 1991. The Chicago City Council map is still in court, after 10,000,000 taxpayer dollars spent defending the map. The Chicago Tribune and even the district court judge suggested using cumulative voting to settle this mess once and for all.