Fair Representation Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3863 To establish the use of ranked choice voting in elections for Senators and Representatives in Congress, to require each State with more than one Representative to establish multi-member congressional districts, to re- quire States to conduct congressional redistricting through independent commissions, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 14, 2021 Mr. BEYER (for himself, Mr. COOPER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. MCGOVERN, and Mr. PETERS) 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 consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To establish the use of ranked choice voting in elections for Senators and Representatives in Congress, to require each State with more than one Representative to estab- lish multi-member congressional districts, to require States to conduct congressional redistricting through independent commissions, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:44 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3863.IH H3863 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3863 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 2 ‘‘Fair Representation Act’’. 3 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 4 this Act is as follows: 5 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Finding of constitutional authority. TITLE I—RANKED CHOICE VOTING Sec. 101. Requiring ranked choice voting for election of Senators and Rep- resentatives. ‘‘Subtitle C—Ranked Choice Voting ‘‘PART 1—REQUIRING RANKED CHOICE VOTING FOR ELECTION OF SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES ‘‘Sec. 321. Requiring ranked choice voting for election of Senators and Representatives. ‘‘Sec. 322. Application to District of Columbia and territories. ‘‘Sec. 323. Treatment of States not holding primary elections prior to date of general election. ‘‘PART 2—TABULATION PROCESS ‘‘Sec. 331. Tabulation for single-seat congressional elections. ‘‘Sec. 332. Tabulation for multi-seat congressional elections. ‘‘Sec. 333. Exclusion of inactive ballots. ‘‘Sec. 334. Batch elimination. ‘‘Sec. 335. Treatment of ties between candidates. ‘‘Sec. 336. Continuing candidate defined. ‘‘PART 3—PAYMENTS TO STATES TO IMPLEMENT RANKED CHOICE VOTING ‘‘Sec. 341. Payments to States to implement ranked choice voting. Sec. 102. Applicability of enforcement provisions of Help America Vote Act of 2002. Sec. 103. Effective date. TITLE II—MULTI-MEMBER DISTRICTS Sec. 201. Requiring use of multi-member districts in certain States. Sec. 202. Requiring certain States to elect all Representatives at large. Sec. 203. Establishing minimum number of candidates in general election. Sec. 204. Conforming amendments. Sec. 205. Exception for States in which use of multi-member districts will re- sult in diminishment of voting rights. Sec. 206. Effective date. TITLE III—REQUIREMENTS FOR CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:44 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H3863.IH H3863 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3863 IH Subtitle A—General Requirements Sec. 301. Requiring congressional redistricting to be conducted through plan of independent State commission. Sec. 302. Limit on congressional redistricting after an apportionment. Subtitle B—Independent Redistricting Commissions Sec. 311. Independent redistricting commission. Sec. 312. Establishment of selection pool of individuals eligible to serve as members of commission. Sec. 313. Criteria for redistricting plan by independent commission; public no- tice and input. Sec. 314. Establishment of related entities. Sec. 315. Report on diversity of memberships of independent redistricting com- missions. Subtitle C—Role of Courts in Development of Redistricting Plans Sec. 321. Enactment of plan developed by 3-judge court. Sec. 322. Special rule for redistricting conducted under order of Federal court. Subtitle D—Administrative and Miscellaneous Provisions Sec. 331. Payments to States for carrying out redistricting. Sec. 332. Civil enforcement. Sec. 333. State apportionment notice defined. Sec. 334. Special rules for redistricting pursuant to 2020 decennial census. TITLE IV—GENERAL PROVISIONS Sec. 401. No effect on elections for State and local office. Sec. 402. Severability. Sec. 403. Effective date. SEC. 2. FINDING OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY. 1 Congress finds that it has the authority to establish 2 the terms and conditions States must follow in carrying 3 out congressional redistricting after an apportionment of 4 Members of the House of Representatives and in admin- 5 istering elections for the Senate and House of Representa- 6 tives because— 7 (1) the authority granted to Congress under ar- 8 ticle I, section 4 of the Constitution of the United 9 States gives Congress the power to enact laws gov- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:44 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3863.IH H3863 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3863 IH erning the time, place, and manner of elections for 1 Senators and Members of the House of Representa- 2 tives; and 3 (2) the authority granted to Congress under 4 section 5 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitu- 5 tion gives Congress the power to enact laws to en- 6 force section 2 of such amendment, which requires 7 Representatives to be apportioned among the several 8 States according to their number. 9 TITLE I—RANKED CHOICE 10 VOTING 11 SEC. 101. REQUIRING RANKED CHOICE VOTING FOR ELEC- 12 TION OF SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help America 14 Vote Act of 2001 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended 15 by adding at the end the following new subtitle: 16 ‘‘Subtitle C—Ranked Choice Voting 17 ‘‘PART 1—REQUIRING RANKED CHOICE VOTING 18 FOR ELECTION OF SENATORS AND REP- 19 RESENTATIVES 20 ‘‘SEC. 321. REQUIRING RANKED CHOICE VOTING FOR ELEC- 21 TION OF SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES. 22 ‘‘(a) RANKED CHOICE VOTING.—Each State shall 23 carry out elections for the office of Senator and the office 24 of Representative in Congress using a system of ranked 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:44 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3863.IH H3863 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3863 IH choice voting under which each voter shall rank the can- 1 didates for the office in the order of the voter’s preference, 2 in accordance with the following: 3 ‘‘(1) In any single-seat election and any election 4 for the office of Senator, the State shall carry out 5 the election using single-seat ranked choice voting as 6 described in section 331. 7 ‘‘(2) In any multi-seat election, the State shall 8 carry out the election using multi-seat ranked choice 9 voting as described in section 332. 10 ‘‘(b) BALLOT DESIGN.—Each State shall ensure that 11 the ballot used in an election carried out using a system 12 of ranked choice voting under this title meets each of the 13 following requirements: 14 ‘‘(1) The ballot shall be simple and easy to un- 15 derstand. 16 ‘‘(2) The ballot shall include all qualified can- 17 didates for the election and (to the extent permitted 18 under State law) options for voters to select write- 19 in candidates. If feasible, the ballot shall permit vot- 20 ers to rank every candidate in the election. If it is 21 not feasible for the ballot to permit voters to rank 22 every candidate, the State may limit the number of 23 candidates who may be ranked on the ballot to not 24 fewer than six. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:44 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3863.IH H3863 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3863 IH ‘‘(3) The ballot shall include such instructions 1 as the State considers necessary to enable the voter 2 to rank candidates and successfully cast the ballot 3 under the system. 4 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—In this title— 5 ‘‘(1) the term ‘single-seat election’ means any 6 primary election in which exactly one candidate in 7 the primary election will advance to the general elec- 8 tion, any special election for exactly one seat, any 9 general election for the office of Senator, and any 10 general election in which only one Representative is 11 elected at large; and 12 ‘‘(2) the term ‘multi-seat election’ means any 13 primary election in which more than one candidate 14 in the primary election will advance to the general 15 election, any special election for more than one seat, 16 and any general election in which more than one 17 Representative is elected at large or in a multi-mem- 18 ber district. 19 ‘‘SEC. 322. APPLICATION TO DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND 20 TERRITORIES. 21 ‘‘(a) ELECTION OF DELEGATES AND RESIDENT COM- 22 MISSIONER.—In this subtitle, the term ‘Representative’ in- 23 cludes a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Con- 24 gress. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:44 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3863.IH H3863 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3863 IH ‘‘(b) APPLICATION TO NORTHERN MARIANA IS- 1 LANDS.—This subtitle shall apply with respect to the 2 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in the 3 same manner as this subtitle applies to a State. 4 ‘‘SEC. 323. TREATMENT OF STATES NOT HOLDING PRIMARY 5 ELECTIONS PRIOR TO DATE OF GENERAL 6 ELECTION. 7 ‘‘Nothing in this title shall be construed to require 8 a State to hold a primary election for the office of Senator 9 or Representative in Congress prior to the date established 10 under section 25 of the Revised Statutes of the United 11 States (2 U.S.C. 7) for the regularly scheduled general 12 election for such office, so long as the determination of 13 the candidates who are elected to such office is based sole- 14 ly on the votes cast with respect to the election held on 15 such date, as determined in accordance with the system 16 of ranked choice voting under this title. 17 ‘‘PART 2—TABULATION PROCESS 18 ‘‘SEC. 331. TABULATION FOR SINGLE-SEAT CONGRES- 19 SIONAL ELECTIONS. 20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 21 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION OF CANDIDATE’S NUM- 22 BER OF VOTES.—In the case of a single-seat elec- 23 tion, the number of votes received by a candidate in 24 either the initial tabulation or in an additional round 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:44 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3863.IH H3863 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3863 IH of tabulation shall be equal to the number of ballots 1 on which that candidate is the highest ranked con- 2 tinuing candidate. 3 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA FOR ELECTION.—In the case of 4 a single-seat election, a candidate shall be elected to 5 the office of Senator or Representative in Congress 6 (or, in the case of a primary election, shall advance 7 to the general election for such office as provided 8 under the law of the State involved) if— 9 ‘‘(A) in the initial tabulation of ballots, the 10 candidate receives a number of votes greater 11 than 50 percent of the number of ballots cast 12 in the election; or 13 ‘‘(B) if the election official carries out an 14 additional round of tabulation under subsection 15 (b), the candidate receives the greatest number 16 of votes of the 2 remaining continuing can- 17 didates (as described in such subsection). 18 ‘‘(b) PROCESS IN CASE NO CANDIDATE ELECTED 19 UNDER INITIAL TABULATION.— 20 ‘‘(1) ADDITIONAL ROUNDS OF TABULATION.— 21 If, under the initial tabulation of ballots, no can- 22 didate is elected to office (or, in the case of a pri- 23 mary election, no candidate advances to the general 24 election for such office) under the criteria described 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:44 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3863.IH H3863 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3863 IH in subsection (a)(2)(A), the election official shall 1 carry out additional rounds of tabulation in accord- 2 ance with paragraph (2) until only two continuing 3 candidates remain. 4 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF BALLOTS IN ADDITIONAL 5 ROUNDS.—In each additional round of tabulation 6 carried out under this subsection— 7 ‘‘(A) the candidate receiving the fewest 8 number of votes among all candidates (or, in 9 the case of a State which applies batch elimi- 10 nation under section 334, each candidate in the 11 batch elimination group) shall be treated as a 12 defeated candidate; 13 ‘‘(B) for each ballot cast for a defeated 14 candidate, the election official shall determine 15 the highest-ranked candidate on the ballot who 16 is a continuing candidate; and 17 ‘‘(C) the vote cast on the ballot shall be 18 transferred to, and added to the total number 19 of votes received by, the highest-ranked con- 20 tinuing candidate determined under subpara- 21 graph (B). 22 ‘‘SEC. 332. TABULATION FOR MULTI-SEAT CONGRESSIONAL 23 ELECTIONS. 24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:44 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3863.IH H3863 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3863 IH ‘‘(1) VOTES COUNTED IN ROUNDS.—In the case 1 of a multi-seat election, the votes shall be counted in 2 a series of rounds of tabulation until the number of 3 winning candidates equals the required number of 4 winning candidates with respect to the election, as 5 described in paragraph (4). 6 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA FOR ELECTION.—In the case of 7 a multi-seat election, a candidate shall be considered 8 a winning candidate and shall be elected to one of 9 the offices of Representative in the congressional 10 district (or, in the case of a primary election, shall 11 advance to the general election for such offices as 12 provided under the law of State involved) if— 13 ‘‘(A) in any round, the candidate has a 14 vote total that exceeds the multi-seat election 15 threshold, as determined under this section; or 16 ‘‘(B) the candidate is a continuing can- 17 didate and the number of remaining continuing 18 candidates plus the number of candidates al- 19 ready designated as winning candidates is equal 20 to or less than the required number of winning 21 candidates with respect to the election. 22 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION OF MULTI-SEAT ELEC- 23 TION THRESHOLD.—The multi-seat election thresh- 24 old with respect to an election shall be equal to the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:44 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3863.IH H3863 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3863 IH total number of valid votes cas [Text truncated for display. 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