Election night marked a resounding success for the Democratic party across the country. There were victories in New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania, but perhaps none more important on a national scale than the passage of Proposition 50 in California.
This measure will allow the California state legislature to redraw its congressional lines to gain up to six seats for the Democratic Party in next year’s midterm elections. Governor Gavin Newsom pushed for Prop 50 to counter Texas from taking similar measures to gain up to five seats for Republicans in an effort to not lose the House of Representatives.
While many Democrats will celebrate the passage of Prop 50, and many Republicans will lament it, the underlying issue in both California and Texas’s attempts to secure power in the House remains: gerrymandering and inadequate representation.
The Current State
When Texas originally redrew their maps at the request of President Donald Trump, they did it in an effort to oust Democrats from their seats. The obvious issue with this attempt by Texan Republicans is that Democratic voices will be suppressed, even when 42.5% (4.8 million people) of the state voted for former VP Kamala Harris in last year’s general elections. California will be doing essentially the same thing as 38.3% (6 million people) of those who voted last year did so for President Trump.
With voices being suppressed in the name of political gain and the Supreme Court seeming ready to strike down a key part of the Voting Rights Act, it is clear that the current system of electing representatives is showing the worst of its flaws.
The natural question that arises is “What is a proper solution to allow for equitable representation and suppression of the American voters being limited?”.
The answer is proportional voting.
How to Make It Work
In this system of voting, seats will be given out based on whatever percentage of the vote a party gets. To implement this system in the United States, it would be used on a state-by-state basis. This essentially means that seats in the House will be given out based on what percentage of the vote a party gets in each state. To fully understand this, California and Texas will be used as examples.
Currently, of the 38 seats in Texas, 25 are held by Republicans and the other 13 are held by Democrats. This means that 71% of the state’s House seats are held by Republicans, while only 56.1% of the state voted for President Trump. This disproportionate representation is only set to increase if Republicans pick up 5 seats from Democrats, which would then make 86% of the state’s House seats held by Republicans. However, if proportional voting is implemented, 21 seats would be held by Republicans and 17 would be held by Democrats. This is far more representative of the state population’s beliefs and allows for more equitable representation in the federal government.
Similarly, in California, 83% of the state House seats are held by Democrats when 58.5% of the state voted for VP Harris. With proportional voting instituted into California, thirty of the seats would be held by Democrats, and twenty of them held by Republicans. The next question is what to do with the remaining two seats. This issue actually highlights another benefit of proportional voting: third-party voices will be heard.
The Benefits
For too long, it has been impossible for third parties to make an impact on American politics beyond being spoilers in elections. With proportional voting, they can start finding seats in congress and making themselves credible on a national stage. Through this, they will build popularity and start to break the traditional two-party system which has driven so much of the polarization in this country. Allowing for more voices in government will allow for the people to have more options when voting, and force the two existing parties to try harder for the people’s support.
When proportional voting is applied to each state in the country the distribution of House seats comes out to 216 Republicans, 212 Democrats, and seven third-party members.This provides many benefits such as members of the House being forced to negotiate more often due no party having a majority. This, as previously mentioned, gives a platform for third parties to start having their voices heard, and possibly garnering more support on a national level.
There will be many who criticize this system. One reason may include the rounding that must occur with proportional voting. Take, for example, West Virginia. In this state, President Trump carried it by 70%, yet the seats in the House are split 50/50. However, even with the necessity of rounding, it does not cause enough of a swing in the overall election as Republicans still hold a majority in the House. Another issue that may come up is that regional interests are no longer represented. One of the benefits of the current system is that voters have the chance to support someone from their area who knows the issues pressing to them. This disappears with proportional voting. The counterpoint to this is that the ratio between House members to population has increased sharply as the number of seats in the House has not risen since 1913.This means the current members are already losing sight and growing out of touch with many of the issues their constituents face. Furthermore, many representatives are not longstanding members of the areas they represent, moving in from other locations in hopes of securing a place in Congress. These issues with proportional voting do not outweigh the issues of the current system with gerrymandering and inadequate representation.
Final Remarks
The United States of America is a country built by the people, for the people, and the only way to display this in the federal government is through equitable representation. The system with the greatest opportunity to provide this is proportional voting, and with it there will never be a reason for another Proposition 50 to appear on a ballot.
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