{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.countable.us/bill/photo/hr3057-115/featured_fair-representation-act-1499629420.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.countable.us/bill/photo/hr3057-115/featured_large_fair-representation-act-1499629420.jpg","shareable":"https://n.countable.us/share-images/bills/hr3057-115.png"},"introduced_on":"2017-06-26","title_override":"Reforming Congressional Elections Through Ranked Choice Voting, Multi-Member Districts, and Independent Redistricting Commissions","summary_override":"

This bill — known as the Fair Representation Act — would enact several reforms to elections to the House of Representatives by requiring states to utilize ranked choice voting, have multi-member districts, and redistrict using an independent commission.

Ranked Choice Voting

Rather than having one vote when choosing their member of Congress in a general election, voters would be able to rank candidates 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and so forth on their ballot. Voting would occur in rounds, with every ballot’s first choice counted first, and the threshold to win would range from a majority (50% + 1) from single member districts to one-third of the vote for two seats, one-fourth for three seats, one-fifth for four seats, and one-sixth for five seats.

If a candidate exceeds the threshold of votes from ballots where they were first, they’d be elected. Votes for winning candidates are “reweighted” so that any part of the votes that didn’t help elect that candidate count for the next ranked choice in the following round. In a round where no candidates pass the threshold, the candidate in last place is eliminated, and if a voter chose that candidate then their vote would count for their next choice. The process would repeat until all seats are elected.

Multi-Member Districts

The single-winner district mandate that is currently in effect would be repealed and replaced with a multi-winner district mandate for states that have more than one seat in the House. States that have five or fewer members won’t use districts and elect all members statewide.

States with more than six members would hold elections from multi-winner districts that could have no fewer than three and no more than five members, with all a state’s districts with an equal number of persons per seat.

For primary elections, parties would put forward candidates equal to the number elected from that district. States that have “Top Two” rules that advance the top two candidates would advance twice that number from the primary to the general election.

Congressional Redistricting Requirements

States that elect House members from districts (as opposed to statewide) would be required to establish an independent redistricting commission. A nonpartisan agency would develop a pool of 60 candidates, with 20 each from the state’s majority and minority parties, and 20 unaffiliated with either. A bipartisan legislative committee would approve the pool, and the nonpartisan agency would then randomly choose four commission members from each of the majority, minority, and unaffiliated pools. Those twelve would then choose a chair from among the unaffiliated members.

The following criteria, in order of importance, would be considered by the committee when drawing district lines:

Contiguity;
Consistency with the Voting Rights Act;
No district can be completely safe for one political party (based on presidential vote totals from prior elections);
As few districts as possible should elect four candidates (to avoid frequent 2-2 splits);
As many districts as possible should elect five candidates (to maximize proportionality);
Respect for existing political boundaries and communities of interest;
Compactness;
Respect for visible geographic features.

The commission would hold hearings around the state, publish preliminary maps, and then hold at least three further hearings with chances for public comments. A majority of the commission, including at least one from each of the parties and the unaffiliated groups must approve a final congressional district map by August 15th of years ending in number one. If a state doesn’t establish the nonpartisan agency or legislative committee, if the committee doesn’t approve a pool of applicants, or if the independent commission fails to approve a final plan then a panel of federal judges will do it guided by the same criteria.

","official_title":"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.","short_title":"Fair Representation Act","popular_title":null,"short_summary":null,"summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.","impact":"American voters; states and their independent redistricting commissions; and the House of Representatives, particularly its current and future members.","argument_for":"By ending the process of political redistricting, establishing multi-winner districts, and ranked choice voting this bill would give voters more power to elect candidates they support in truly competitive elections. That will encourage bipartisanship while restoring Americans’ faith in their political system.","argument_against":"The existing system for electing members to the House of Representatives doesn’t need to be changed. Besides, states can adopt these reforms if they want to and this bill is unlikely to pass Congress because it’d ask many House lawmakers to vote to make their district more competitive.","bill_type":"hr","published":true,"type":"FederalBill","id":"hr3057-115","bill_id":"hr3057-115","formal_id":"H.R. 3057","chamber":"house","congress":115,"last_action_at":"2017-07-14T00:00:00.000Z","active":false,"enacted":false,"enacted_at":null,"vetoed":false,"last_vote_at":null,"debated_on":null,"congress_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th/house-bill/3057","plain_text_url":"https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-115hr3057ih/html/BILLS-115hr3057ih.htm","shareable_image_url":"https://n.countable.us/share-images/bills/hr3057-115.png","congress_full_text_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th/house-bill/3057/text","is_current_congress":false,"last_version_on":"2017-06-26","related_bill_ids":["hr1102-115"],"progress":"Introduced","house_passage_result":false,"senate_passage_result":false,"position_count":1106,"committees":[{"name":"Committee on Administration","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSHA","subcommittee":false},{"name":"Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSJU10","subcommittee":true},{"name":"Committee on the Judiciary","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSJU","subcommittee":false}],"links":{"rollCalls":"/api/roll_calls?bill_id=hr3057-115","details":"/api/bills/hr3057-115/details","sharingMessage":"/api/sharing_messages/hr3057-115","positionsFor":"/api/bills/hr3057-115/positions/for","positionsAgainst":"/api/bills/hr3057-115/positions/against"},"upcoming":false,"cosponsors_count":5,"slug":"hr3057-115-fair-representation-act","latest_chamber_votes_id":null,"official_url":null,"target_video":true,"following":false,"vote_count":6588,"yea_vote_count":5990,"nay_vote_count":588,"passed_house":false,"passed_senate":false,"vote_id":null,"my_position_id":null,"topic_ids":[],"issue_ids":["elections","voting-rights"],"sponsor_id":7}],"votes":[],"issues":[{"id":"elections","name":"Elections","slug":"elections","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding Elections. Make your voice heard about the issues you care about. \r\n","page_title":"Elections Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.countable.us/issue/icon/elections/black_elections-1429042069.svg","grey":"https://assets.countable.us/issue/icon/elections/grey_elections-1429042069.svg","white":"https://assets.countable.us/issue/icon/elections/white_elections-1429042069.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"voting-rights","name":"Voting Rights","slug":"voting-rights","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding Voting Rights. Make your voice heard about the issues you care about. ","page_title":"Voting Rights Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.countable.us/issue/icon/voting-rights/black_voting-rights-1429042059.svg","grey":"https://assets.countable.us/issue/icon/voting-rights/grey_voting-rights-1429042059.svg","white":"https://assets.countable.us/issue/icon/voting-rights/white_voting-rights-1429042059.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false}],"users":[{"name":"bobo541","vote_count":447,"photos":{"large":"https://graph.facebook.com/828263993917122/picture?width=150&height=150","small":"https://graph.facebook.com/828263993917122/picture?width=75&height=75","tiny":"https://graph.facebook.com/828263993917122/picture?width=20&height=20","facebook":"https://graph.facebook.com/828263993917122/picture"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/0Z7V37Wn/following","followers":"/api/users/0Z7V37Wn/followers"},"about_me":"Libertarian by choice, American by birth.","twitter_id":"bobo541","facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"bobo541","issue_count":62,"is_following":null,"influence_score":500,"influence_level":30,"follower_count":8,"following_count":2,"position_count":176,"id":"0Z7V37Wn","partner_id":null},{"name":"Loraki","vote_count":1215,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.countable.us/user/avatar/8mrgkD9d/large_8mrgkd9d-1485722796.jpg","small":"https://assets.countable.us/user/avatar/8mrgkD9d/small_8mrgkd9d-1485722796.jpg","tiny":"https://assets.countable.us/user/avatar/8mrgkD9d/tiny_8mrgkd9d-1485722796.jpg","facebook":"https://graph.facebook.com/100000827158540/picture"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/8mrgkD9d/following","followers":"/api/users/8mrgkD9d/followers"},"about_me":"I'm a member of the Church of Christ (non-institutional). God gave us a pattern to follow for the Church and for how we should live. He DIDN'T say that following it is OPTIONAL! Nor did He say we could make changes to His pattern! I believe that there will be an eternal home of the soul - Heaven or Hell - and that Christ will judge us on the last day. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God!\n\nI am NOT\n• a Catholic\n• a Protestant\n• a Baptist\n• a Methodist\n• a Mormon\n• an Episcopalian\n• a Pentacostal\nor member of any other denomination.\n\n• I AM A CHRISTIAN, PERIOD!\n• I AM A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, PERIOD! \n• I ACKNOWLEDGE NO HEAD OF THE CHURCH EXCEPT CHRIST JESUS, THE SON OF GOD, PERIOD! \n• I FOLLOW NO MANMADE CREED, BUT THE BIBLE ONLY, WHICH IS THE INSPIRED WORD OF GOD, PERIOD!\n\nI'm a 4th. generation Texan & the mother of 2 sons. I'm retired. I love the mountains and I like Oberhasli dairy goats, organic gardening, science fiction, astronomy, camping, and hunting. I'm very fond of my OESheepdog and my Norwegian Forest cat, too.\n\n• I'm a Constitutional Conservative and a patriot. \n•. I support the Tea Party. \n• I'm for limited government and free market capitalism. \n• I'm also for school choice and school prayer. \n• I'm against abortion and same-sex \"marriage\". \n• I'm TOTALLY AGAINST the implementation of Shariah law at any level in the United States! \n• I'm for SECURE BORDERS and reduced immigration, especially of Muslims! \n• I believe ALL illegal aliens should be deported. Those who enter our country illegally should not be given special privileges at the taxpayers' expense! \n• I believe that Congress should balance the budget and Uncle Sam should live within his means - without raising taxes! \n• I also believe in \"peace through strength\" - keep our military strong and keep out the transgenders! Freedom of religion applies to the military as well as civilians! I'm AGAINST allowing foreigners to join our military! That includes Obama's Dreamers! \n• I want to see a ban on GMOs! \n• I want to see the federal government OUT OF education! \n• Audit the Fed! \n• Abolish the IRS! \n• Just say \"NO\" to political correctness and race-baiting!\n\nThis is not a complete description of what I stand for. If you have specific questions about me, it can't hurt to ask! I might even answer! :-D #MakeDCListen\n\nTHIS IS MY COUNTRY!\n\nI AM TIRED OF AND FED UP WITH MUSLIM JIHADISTS AND ILLEGAL ALIENS IN MY COUNTRY, WHO ARE BRINGING DRUGS, DISEASE, AND CRIME, WHILE BEING CODDLED BY MY GOVERNMENT AT THE EXPENSE OF THE AMERICAN CITIZENS! IT'S NOT RIGHT FOR US TO HAVE TO SUFFER THIS INVASION BY PEOPLE WHO DON'T RESPECT OUR LAWS, OUR PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, OUR FLAG, OUR LANGUAGE (That's ENGLISH!), OR OUR CULTURE! AND I'M TIRED OF AND FED UP WITH HAVING TO \"PRESS 1 FOR ENGLISH\"! WE NEED A MORATORIUM ON MUSLIM IMMIGRATION AND WE NEED TO KICK OUT ALL OF THE ILLEGAL ALIENS WHO BY DEFINITION ARE CRIMINALS! WE NEED TO MAKE OUR GOVERNMENT UNDERSTAND THAT WE DON'T WANT AMERICA TURNED INTO A THIRD WORLD CESSPOOL!\n\nI AM NOT ANTI-IMMIGRANT. I AM FOR THE RULE OF LAW. I DON'T CARE WHAT COLOR YOUR SKIN IS OR WHAT YOUR NATIVE LANGUAGE IS. BUT IF YOU COME TO MY COUNTRY TO LIVE, I EXPECT YOU TO LEARN AND SPEAK ENGLISH AND TO OBEY OUR LAWS! NONE OF THAT SHARIAH STUFF! WE HAVE FREEDOM OF RELIGION HERE IN AMERICA, AND ISLAM IS A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER TO THAT FREEDOM! SPARE ME YOUR TAQIYYA AND HUDNA! YOU WANT TO BELIEVE MUHAMMAD IS A PROPHET OF GOD? THAT IS YOUR RIGHT, BUT IT IS OUR RIGHT TO DISAGREE WITH YOUR BELIEFS. IT IS NOT YOUR RIGHT TO KILL US FOR DISAGREEING! IF YOU DON'T LIKE OUR LAWS, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO TRY TO CHANGE THEM THROUGH LEGAL AND PEACEFUL MEANS, BUT MANY OF US WILL PEACEFULLY AND RESPECTFULLY (insofar as it is possible) DO OUR UTMOST TO PREVENT YOU FROM SUCCEEDING, IF YOUR GOAL IS CULTURAL AND POLITICAL JIHAD.\n\nTHIS IS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND WE HAVE A HERITAGE OF HONOR, PRIDE AND COURAGE. OUR NATION, MOREOVER, WAS FOUNDED ON CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES! OUR REVERENCE FOR GOD AND HIS CHRIST AND THE HOLY BIBLE IS WHAT ENABLED AMERICA TO BECOME GREATLY BLESSED BY GOD. WE HAVE OUR PROBLEMS; WE ARE NOT PERFECT, BUT WE WILL FIGHT THE POWERS OF DARKNESS AND EVIL, SO HELP US, GOD!\n\nTHIS IS AMERICA! LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT!!!","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":"lafigarus","youtube_id":"LauraroseofTexas","google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"loraki","issue_count":120,"is_following":null,"influence_score":47000,"influence_level":40,"follower_count":534,"following_count":3688,"position_count":920,"id":"8mrgkD9d","partner_id":null},{"name":"Bob","vote_count":234,"photos":{"large":"https://graph.facebook.com/845158948890761/picture?width=150&height=150","small":"https://graph.facebook.com/845158948890761/picture?width=75&height=75","tiny":"https://graph.facebook.com/845158948890761/picture?width=20&height=20","facebook":"https://graph.facebook.com/845158948890761/picture"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/0Z7dR5mn/following","followers":"/api/users/0Z7dR5mn/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":0,"is_following":null,"influence_score":370,"influence_level":20,"follower_count":11,"following_count":2,"position_count":196,"id":"0Z7dR5mn","partner_id":null}],"bill_position":{"flagged":false,"id":"deef7c47-3815-4746-bc76-13d5a2703c1c","argument_for":null,"argument_against":"This is just one step further to Federalizing the Election system. 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Reforming Congressional Elections Through Ranked Choice Voting, Multi-Member Districts, and Independent Redistricting Commissions