I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3068
To provide that a State may use a proportional voting system for multiseat
congressional districts.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 13, 1997
Ms. MCKINNEY (for herself, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. EDDIE BER-
NICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, and Mrs. CLAYTON)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary
A BILL
To provide that a State may use a proportional voting system
for multiseat congressional districts.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Voters’ Choice Act’’.
SEC. 2. MULTISEAT DISTRICTS PERMITTED FOR ELECTION
OF REPRESENTATIVES FOR STATES WITH A
PROPORTIONAL VOTING SYSTEM.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding Public Law 90–
196 (2 U.S.C. 2c), a State that is entitled to more than
one Representative in Congress may establish a number
of districts for election of Representatives that is less than
the number of Representatives to which the State is enti-
tled, if and only if, that State uses a system that meets
the following conditions:
(1) It meets the constitutional standard that
each voter should have equal voting power.
(2) Any group of voters making up at least 50
percent of the electorate will be able to elect at least
half of the Representatives in the multiseat district.
(3) It ensures that any group of voters of a size
that is at least one vote greater than one-third of
the electorate in the multiseat district will be able to
elect at least one Representative in the district.
(4) It ensures that any group of voters of a size
that is at least one vote greater than one-third of
the electorate will be able to elect their proportional
share of seats.
(b) NO RESTRICTION ON SELECTION.—A State is not
restricted to selecting systems that require a group of vot-
ers to be at least one vote more than one-third of the elec-
torate. As long as the conditions specified in subsection
(a) are met, a State may use systems that allow a smaller
group of voters to elect Representatives.
(c) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this Act—
(1) the term ‘‘voter’’ means persons casting
valid ballots in the election;
(2) the term ‘‘group of voters’’ means voters
identified by their votes for the same individuals or
same political party;
(3) the term ‘‘electorate’’ means the total num-
ber of voters in the multiseat district;
(4) the term ‘‘representation threshold’’ means
the electorate divided by one more than the number
of seats to be filled in the election for that multiseat
district;
(5) the term ‘‘proportional share of seats’’
means one less than the number of voters in a given
group of voters divided by the representation thresh-
old, rounded down to the nearest whole number; and
(6) the term ‘‘will be able’’ means that a group
of voters of at least the representation threshold will
win their proportional share of seats when they take
full advantage of the opportunities to elect their pro-
portional share of seats provided by the system in
use.
(d) EQUALITY REQUIREMENT.—In a State that uses
multiseat districts, the number of residents per Represent-
ative in a district shall be equal for all Representatives
elected.
(e) ONE-SEAT DISTRICTS ALLOWED.—A State may
use one-seat districts alone or in combination with
multiseat districts.
SEC. 3. RELATION TO VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965.
The rights and remedies established by this Act are
in addition to all other rights and remedies provided by
law, and the rights and remedies established by this Act
shall not supersede, restrict, or limit the application of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.). Noth-
ing in this Act authorizes or requires conduct that is pro-
hibited by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973
et seq.).
Æ