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Multi-Member Districts Education Project
A Civics Education Project of the WA League of Women Voters
Introduction
The system used for electing our representatives is seldom questioned in the United States. Recently, in the face of voter apathy and increased expressions of antipathy towards government, have some Americans begun to consider that there may be a relationship between the method used to select their representatives and peoples’ numerous complaints about the government it produces. This presentation will outline what multi-member districts are, where and how they are used, as well as how they could improve representation.
Watch the LWVWA's presentation on multi-member districts:
A Multi-Member District is any geographic electoral district that elects multiple representatives, usually 3, 5 or 7.
This is in contrast to:
A Single-Member District is any geographic electoral district that elects only one representative.
How would they change the way we elect officials?
Multi-Member Districts can produce Proportional Representation, so that all sizable political groups get representation in proportion to their numbers.
Why learn about Multi-Member Districts?
More areas around the country are discussing Multi-Member Districts. As members of the largest voting advocacy group in the U.S., it's worth learning about them.
Most modern democracies across the world use some form of proportional representation and many use multi-member districts.
Voters in Portland, Oregon adopted multi-member districts in the Fall of 2023 and will begin using them in Fall 2024.
A Washington Supreme Court decision of June 15, 2023 approved alternative voting methods including limited voting, cumulative voting, and single transferable voting as remedies for potential voting rights act violations. All these methods use multi-member districts.
Recently Portland, OR, changed to using multi-member districts for city council elections. They combined these multi-member districts with proportional ranked choice voting.
This video from Mont Chris Hubbard gives a great explanation of how the new system will bring proportional representation to Portland.
Proportional Representation in Portland, Oregon by Mont Chris Hubbard.
The League of Women Voters of Portland did a Community Education program called “Ranked-Choice Voting: Moving Portland Forward with Confidence” where they brought in an expert panel to explain the new system as part of voter education efforts leading up to the first election.
You can also listen to this as a podcast.
Study
An Evaluation of Major Election Methods and Selected State Election Laws , Fall 2000, The League of Women Voters of Washington Education Fund
This 46-page study develops an understanding of the basic structure of voting methods and the way voting methods influence representation, voter engagement, political parties, and legislation. No voting method is perfect, and the fundamental question for this study is how to best transform votes into winning candidates and ballot measures.A Review of Various Election Methods , 2020 (PDF)
At the turn of the 21st century, the League examined major alternatives of election methods used in western democracies and came to positions which continue to address election methods well. That was nearly 20 years ago so the focus of this report is research and a report to bring up to date the information on election methods in use or under consideration for use in various places in 2020. Our goal, as always, is continuing education of League members, our elected officials and the public. Video from LWVWA May 2020 Council.
Books
Our Shared Republic (2023) by Andrew (Drew) Penrose
Volić, Ismar, Making Democracy Count: How Mathematics Improves Voting, Electoral Maps, and Representation (Chapter 13)
Articles
Fix Our House: 2022 Redistricting Report—Single-Winner Districts and the Failures of Redistricting ,
Just Security: Proportional Representation Could Reduce the Risk of Political Violence in the U.S.
TIME: How to Fix America's Broken Electoral System
Protect Democracy: Proportional Representation, Explained
The Washington Supreme Court ruled in 2023 on the Washington Voting Rights Act case of Portugal v Franklin County that proportional election methods could be used in Washington State as a remedy for voting rights cases or to protect against possible future cases.
One of those proportional election methods is called STV (Single-Transferable Vote) or Proportional Ranked Choice Voting.
You can experience this system for yourself in this demonstration election to select three pizzas to be shared by a group. Rank the candidates in the order of your preference and the top three candidates overall will be selected.
(This poll was created with rcv123.org. Use tinyurl.com/ThreePizzaVoteDemo to share it with others.)
Program CommitteeKit Muehlman (Whatcom), Cindy Madigan (Whatcom), Chris Mason (Mason), Kirsten Rooks (King), Cindy Black (Snohomish)
To join us, email mmd@lwvwa.org.
- Send us your comments and questions
- Join our project working group
- Invite us to come to your local league to give a presentation (either in person or over Zoom). We will look at the way our current electoral systems silently shape the way politics works and how we can improve it.
Contact: mmd@lwvwa.org
LWVUS: Impact On Issues 2024-2026, p. 57
Voter Representation/Electoral Systems Position
The League’s Position
Statement of Position on Voter Representation/Electoral Systems as adopted by concurrence by the 54th National Convention in June 2020:
LWVUS promotes an open governmental system that is representative, accountable and responsive. We encourage electoral methods that provide the broadest voter representation possible and are expressive of voter choices.
Whether for single or multiple winner contests, the League supports electoral methods that:
- Encourage voter participation and voter engagement
- Encourage those with minority opinions to participate, including under-represented communities
- Are verifiable and auditable
- Promote access to voting
- Maximize effective votes/minimize wasted votes
- Promote sincere voting over strategic voting
- Implement alternatives to plurality voting
- Are compatible with acceptable ballot-casting methods, including vote-by-mail
The LWVUS believes in representative government. The League supports electoral systems that elect policy-making bodies–-legislatures, councils, commissions, and boards—that proportionally reflect the people they represent. We support systems that inhibit political manipulation (e.g. gerrymandering).
The LWVUS supports enabling legislation to allow local jurisdictions to explore alternative electoral methods, as well as supporting state election laws allowing for more options at both the state and local levels. With the adoption of any electoral system, the League believes that education of the voting public is important and funding for startup and voter education should be available. We encourage a concerted voter education process.
At the start of 2022, LWVUS launched a legislative office hours series to answer state/local Leagues’ questions about LWVUS positions. One common theme was ranked choice voting (RCV). LWVUS has not supported legislation at the federal level to institute RCV across the board. However, LWVUS encourages state and local Leagues to use the Voter Representation/Electoral Systems position—specifically, the line that recommends informing their advocacy around state and local legislation and ballot initiatives—with regard to the use of RCV locally. State and local Leagues have used the position to support RCV in communities and jurisdictions along with their own positions.
LWVWA: Program in Action 2023-24, p. 18
Election Methods (EM)
- Supports state election laws allowing for options for alternative election systems in governmental jurisdictions at both the state and local levels. (EM-1)
- Believes that consideration should be given, when evaluating elections systems, to how well they (promote “representative-ness”, citizen participation and accountability, as well as keeping cost of elections within range by holding them in regularly scheduled General or Special Elections (EM-2)
- In the event that the primary continues as a part of Washington’s election system, (LWVWA) supports a primary that has the following elements:
-
- is an “open” system not requiring advance party registration,
- keeps voters’ party preferences from becoming a matter of public record
- encourages minor party participation (EM-3)
- Supports a presidential primary only if the results play a decisive part in selecting party nominees. (EM-4)
- Supports adoption of election methods that produce proportional representation when electing representative government bodies such as councils, legislatures, and Congress. (EM-5)
- Supports the concept of a majority vote requirement for winners of single offices such as mayor or governor, as long as it is achieved using a voting method such as the Instant Runoff Vote, rather than a second, separate runoff election. (EM-6)