Fair Representation Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4000 To establish the use of ranked choice voting in elections for Representatives in Congress, to require each State with more than one Representative to establish multi-member congressional districts, to require States to conduct congressional redistricting through independent commissions, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 25, 2019 Mr. BEYER (for himself, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. COOPER, and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Com- mittee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 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 Representatives in Congress, to require each State with more than one Representative to establish multi- member congressional districts, to require States to con- duct 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 20:15 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4000.IH H4000 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4000 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 Representatives. ‘‘Subtitle C—Ranked Choice Voting ‘‘PART 1—REQUIRING RANKED CHOICE VOTING FOR ELECTION OF REPRESENTATIVES ‘‘Sec. 321. Requiring ranked choice voting for election of 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 Subtitle A—General Requirements VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H4000.IH H4000 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4000 IH 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. 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 House of Representatives be- 6 cause— 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 erning the time, place, and manner of elections for 11 Members of the House of Representatives; and 12 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4000.IH H4000 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4000 IH (2) the authority granted to Congress under 1 section 5 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitu- 2 tion gives Congress the power to enact laws to en- 3 force section 2 of such amendment, which requires 4 Representatives to be apportioned among the several 5 States according to their number. 6 TITLE I—RANKED CHOICE 7 VOTING 8 SEC. 101. REQUIRING RANKED CHOICE VOTING FOR ELEC- 9 TION OF REPRESENTATIVES. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help America 11 Vote Act of 2001 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended 12 by adding at the end the following new subtitle: 13 ‘‘Subtitle C—Ranked Choice Voting 14 ‘‘PART 1—REQUIRING RANKED CHOICE VOTING 15 FOR ELECTION OF REPRESENTATIVES 16 ‘‘SEC. 321. REQUIRING RANKED CHOICE VOTING FOR ELEC- 17 TION OF REPRESENTATIVES. 18 ‘‘(a) RANKED CHOICE VOTING.—Each State shall 19 carry out elections for the office of Representative in Con- 20 gress using a system of ranked choice voting under which 21 each voter shall rank the candidates for the office in the 22 order of the voter’s preference, in accordance with the fol- 23 lowing: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4000.IH H4000 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4000 IH ‘‘(1) In any single-seat election, the State shall 1 carry out the election using single-seat ranked choice 2 voting as described in section 331. 3 ‘‘(2) In any multi-seat election, the State shall 4 carry out the election using multi-seat ranked choice 5 voting as described in section 332. 6 ‘‘(b) BALLOT DESIGN.—Each State shall ensure that 7 the ballot used in an election carried out using a system 8 of ranked choice voting under this title meets each of the 9 following requirements: 10 ‘‘(1) The ballot shall be simple and easy to un- 11 derstand. 12 ‘‘(2) The ballot shall include all qualified can- 13 didates for the election and (to the extent permitted 14 under State law) options for voters to select write- 15 in candidates. If feasible, the ballot shall permit vot- 16 ers to rank every candidate in the election. If it is 17 not feasible for the ballot to permit voters to rank 18 every candidate, the State may limit the number of 19 candidates who may be ranked on the ballot to not 20 fewer than six. 21 ‘‘(3) The ballot shall include such instructions 22 as the State considers necessary to enable the voter 23 to rank candidates and successfully cast the ballot 24 under the system. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4000.IH H4000 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4000 IH ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—In this title— 1 ‘‘(1) the term ‘single-seat election’ means any 2 primary election in which exactly one candidate in 3 the primary election will advance to the general elec- 4 tion, any special election for exactly one seat, and 5 any general election in which only one Representa- 6 tive is elected at large; and 7 ‘‘(2) the term ‘multi-seat election’ means any 8 primary election in which more than one candidate 9 in the primary election will advance to the general 10 election, any special election for more than one seat, 11 and any general election in which more than one 12 Representative is elected at large or in a multi-mem- 13 ber district. 14 ‘‘SEC. 322. APPLICATION TO DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND 15 TERRITORIES. 16 ‘‘(a) ELECTION OF DELEGATES AND RESIDENT COM- 17 MISSIONER.—In this subtitle, the term ‘Representative’ in- 18 cludes a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Con- 19 gress. 20 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION TO NORTHERN MARIANA IS- 21 LANDS.—This subtitle shall apply with respect to the 22 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in the 23 same manner as this subtitle applies to a State. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4000.IH H4000 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4000 IH ‘‘SEC. 323. TREATMENT OF STATES NOT HOLDING PRIMARY 1 ELECTIONS PRIOR TO DATE OF GENERAL 2 ELECTION. 3 ‘‘Nothing in this title shall be construed to require 4 a State to hold a primary election for the office of Rep- 5 resentative in Congress prior to the date established under 6 section 25 of the Revised Statutes of the United States 7 (2 U.S.C. 7) for the regularly scheduled general election 8 for such office, so long as the determination of the can- 9 didates who are elected to such office is based solely on 10 the votes cast with respect to the election held on such 11 date, as determined in accordance with the system of 12 ranked choice voting under this title. 13 ‘‘PART 2—TABULATION PROCESS 14 ‘‘SEC. 331. TABULATION FOR SINGLE-SEAT CONGRES- 15 SIONAL ELECTIONS. 16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 17 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION OF CANDIDATE’S NUM- 18 BER OF VOTES.—In the case of a single-seat elec- 19 tion, the number of votes received by a candidate in 20 either the initial tabulation or in an additional round 21 of tabulation shall be equal to the number of ballots 22 on which that candidate is the highest ranked con- 23 tinuing candidate. 24 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA FOR ELECTION.—In the case of 25 a single-seat election, a candidate shall be elected to 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4000.IH H4000 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4000 IH the office of Representative in Congress (or, in the 1 case of a primary election, shall advance to the gen- 2 eral election for such office as provided under the 3 law of the State involved) if— 4 ‘‘(A) in the initial tabulation of ballots, the 5 candidate receives a number of votes greater 6 than 50 percent of the number of ballots cast 7 in the election; or 8 ‘‘(B) if the election official carries out an 9 additional round of tabulation under subsection 10 (b), the candidate receives the greatest number 11 of votes of the 2 remaining continuing can- 12 didates (as described in such subsection). 13 ‘‘(b) PROCESS IN CASE NO CANDIDATE ELECTED 14 UNDER INITIAL TABULATION.— 15 ‘‘(1) ADDITIONAL ROUNDS OF TABULATION.— 16 If, under the initial tabulation of ballots, no can- 17 didate is elected to office (or, in the case of a pri- 18 mary election, no candidate advances to the general 19 election for such office) under the criteria described 20 in subsection (a)(2)(A), the election official shall 21 carry out additional rounds of tabulation in accord- 22 ance with paragraph (2) until only two continuing 23 candidates remain. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4000.IH H4000 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4000 IH ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF BALLOTS IN ADDITIONAL 1 ROUNDS.—In each additional round of tabulation 2 carried out under this subsection— 3 ‘‘(A) the candidate receiving the fewest 4 number of votes among all candidates (or, in 5 the case of a State which applies batch elimi- 6 nation under section 334, each candidate in the 7 batch elimination group) shall be treated as a 8 defeated candidate; 9 ‘‘(B) for each ballot cast for a defeated 10 candidate, the election official shall determine 11 the highest-ranked candidate on the ballot who 12 is a continuing candidate; and 13 ‘‘(C) the vote cast on the ballot shall be 14 transferred to, and added to the total number 15 of votes received by, the highest-ranked con- 16 tinuing candidate determined under subpara- 17 graph (B). 18 ‘‘SEC. 332. TABULATION FOR MULTI-SEAT CONGRESSIONAL 19 ELECTIONS. 20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 21 ‘‘(1) VOTES COUNTED IN ROUNDS.—In the case 22 of a multi-seat election, the votes shall be counted in 23 a series of rounds of tabulation until the number of 24 winning candidates equals the required number of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4000.IH H4000 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4000 IH winning candidates with respect to the election, as 1 described in paragraph (4). 2 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA FOR ELECTION.—In the case of 3 a multi-seat election, a candidate shall be considered 4 a winning candidate and shall be elected to one of 5 the offices of Representative in the congressional 6 district (or, in the case of a primary election, shall 7 advance to the general election for such offices as 8 provided under the law of State involved) if— 9 ‘‘(A) in any round, the candidate has a 10 vote total that exceeds the multi-seat election 11 threshold, as determined under this section; or 12 ‘‘(B) the candidate is a continuing can- 13 didate and the number of remaining continuing 14 candidates plus the number of candidates al- 15 ready designated as winning candidates is equal 16 to or less than the required number of winning 17 candidates with respect to the election. 18 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION OF MULTI-SEAT ELEC- 19 TION THRESHOLD.—The multi-seat election thresh- 20 old with respect to an election shall be equal to the 21 total number of valid votes cast in the election di- 22 vided by the sum of the number one and the re- 23 quired number of winning candidates with respect to 24 the election, rounded up to four decimal places. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4000.IH H4000 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4000 IH ‘‘(4) TABULATION PROCESS.—In the case of a 1 multi-seat election, the votes shall be counted in a 2 series of rounds, beginning with the initial round, 3 under which each candidate h [Text truncated for display. 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