[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3068 Introduced in House (IH)]







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 Bernice 
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 Representatives 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 entitled, 
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 voters to be at least one 
vote more than one-third of the electorate. 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 number 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 threshold, 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 proportional share of seats 
        provided by the system in use.
    (d) Equality Requirement.--In a State that uses multiseat 
districts, the number of residents per Representative 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.). Nothing in this Act authorizes or requires conduct that is 
prohibited by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.).
                                 <all>