Alternative Election Systems “Making Your Vote HOW CAN WE ENSURE MINORITY REPRESENTATION? Limited Voting - Voters either cast fewer votes Count” than the number of seats, or parties nominate fewer In Texas, is real in 1999! With a population of more than candidates than there are seats. Winners are deter- 150,000 people, the Amarillo Independent School District became the nation’s largest city to mined by totaling all votes cast. The greater the dif- adopt cumulative voting. Attorneys from MALDEF, members of LULAC, and the NAACP joined ference between the number of votes and the num- in settling a voting rights suit as both African American and Latino voters will gain new opportu- ber of seats, the greater the opportunities for fair FULL nities for winning representation. representation. Limited voting has been adopted re- In Chilton County, Alabama, Bobby Agee in 1988 became the first African American cently in several North Carolina and Alabama locali- REPRESENTATION elected to the Chilton County Commission even though blacks comprise only 12 percent of the ties and for decades has been used in many north- population. Now serving his third term, his success is attributed to cumulative voting which eastern municipalities. was implemented the first year he was elected. Mr. Agee has been elected to chair the commis- Cumulative Voting - Voters sion several times by his white colleagues. cast as many votes as there are Cumulative voting was used to elect the Illinois State House of Representatives from seats, but are not limited to giv- 1870 to 1980. Harold Washington and Carol Moseley-Braun were elected to the state’s house ing a candidate one vote. In- of representatives under this system. Governor George Ryan (R), Senate Minority Leader Emil stead, they can concentrate Jones (D), and many others support its return. their votes on one or more can- In several Alabama areas, an increase in turnout and the success of women elected to didates. Winning candidates are city council and school boards are attributed to the implementation of cumulative voting or determined by a simple plurality of votes cast. Cu- limited voting in those areas. mulative voting is used in Peoria (IL), Chilton In 1993, Jamesville, North Carolina elected two black commissioners for the first time in County (AL) and more than fifty Texas localities, the town’s history (two out of five.) This is in proportion to the 40 percent black population in including Amarillo. It was used to elect the Illinois Jamesville. Several localities along North Carolina’s coastal plain use limited voting. Limited state assembly from 1870 to 1980. voting was used as a remedy which did not distort district lines or create judicial challenges to

st nd the redistricting process. Choice Voting - Voters rank (1 choice, 2 choice, In Cambridge, Massachusetts, Ken Reeves serves on the city council and is a former etc.) as many candidates as they wish. Candidates A joint project of st mayor of Cambridge. Cambridge, Massachusetts has used choice voting (also called the win by reaching a "victory threshold" of 1 -choice ‘,’ or ‘preference voting’) to elect city council members since 1941. votes roughly equal to the number of votes di- The Southern Center For Blacks comprise only 13 percent of the population in Cambridge but have had near-continuous vided by the number of seats. Ballots are trans- Studies In Public Policy representation on the city council and school committee for decades. ferred to next-choice candidates if a higher choice & New York City uses choice voting for local school board elections. Under this system loses. These transfers facilitate coalition-building The Center For Voting there is significant representation of blacks, Latinos, and and participation. Used to elect the city council in Asian Americans. The Department of Justice refused to pre- Cambridge (MA), Choice voting is also called “single and Democracy clear a plan to modify the system because of minority voters’ transferable vote” and “preference voting.” successes. , , used choice voting from 1925- 1957. Blacks served on ten of the fifteen councils elected Instant Runoff Voting – Like choice voting, but during this period and a number of reforms in racial policies only one candidate wins. Voters rank as many candi- were initiated. dates as they wish (1, 2, 3 and so on). The candidate Full Representation with the fewest first-choice votes loses. Ballots from seeks to provide education, this candidate are transferred to the next choice in- training, and research on these systems to help policymakers, ac- dicated on each ballot. This process continues until tivists,Caption and describing educators picture seek ormea graphic.ningful and realistic opportunities one candidate has a majority. IRV is under serious to increase minority representation and “make votes count!” consideration in several states. We specialize in redistricting models and the resentation” - is a powerful one: the right of deci- Organization broad range of proportional representation sys- sion belongs to a majority, but the right of repre-

tems that allow more voters to elect candidates sentation to all. Proportional representation sys-

of their choice. We also advocate reforming tems allow groupings of voters to elect a fair share Advocacy The Southern Center for Studies elections for one-seat offices to promote ma- of candidates. Gaining more than half of the popu- Education in Public Policy (SCSPP) of Clark At- jority rule and more participation. lar vote wins a majority of the seats, but not all. Election system evaluation lanta University was created in 1968 as a The Center’s mission is founded on the One-fifth of the vote wins one in five seats rather Expert testimony mechanism for faculty and students to belief that our voting system can be reformed at than none. Proportional representation means rep- Focus groups develop competence in the formulation, all levels of government in order to increase resentative democracy. Outreach implementation, and evaluation of public vitality in our democracy, ensure fairer repre- Full Representation is a broad-based Technical Assistance policies that impact African Americans sentation of our society’s diversity in elected program aimed at three major goals: 1) to provide Training and low-income people in the South. bodies, and assist local, state, and national gov- an effective education/training program for black Workshops The goal of the SCSPP is to help improve ernments in their efforts toward solving the elected officials and com- complex issues facing our nation. munity/civil rights leaders the relative condition of disadvantaged For More Information Contact: CVD has a comprehensive website and in the South and a few people by developing creative and innova- a wide array of public education materials, pro- other selected states on tive strategies, policies, and programs by Southern Center For Studies In Public vides legal assistance in voting rights cases, and alternatives to the single utilizing an interdisciplinary approach to Policy holds workshops in communities and at confer- member district election system, 2) to develop a the study of public policy. The SCSPP has Clark Atlanta University ences around the country. network of organizations ranging from Historically recently expanded in the areas of con- 223 James P. Brawley Drive, S.W. Black Colleges and Universities to the Congres- ducting political education and training Atlanta, GA 30314 sional Black Caucus, the National Black Caucus programs for black elected officials, the (404) 880-8085 (404) 880-8090 [fax] of State Legislators and the National Organiza- business community, and civic and civil Full Representation www.scspp.org tion of Negro Women, and the National Or- rights leaders. For example, SCSPP has [email protected] ganization of Black County Officials to the helped to organize statewide coalitions NAACPCaption and describing SCLC and involve them in the 2001 for peoples’ agendas, conducted semi- Full Representation is a collabora- picture or graphic. The Center For Voting and Democracy redistricting process, and 3) to provide technical nars/workshops to form neighborhood tive project of the Southern Center For Stud- 6930 Carroll Ave., Suite 901 assistance to black elected officials and groups in environmental partnerships, and used na- ies in Public Policy and The Center for Voting Takoma Park, MD 20912 developing redistricting/reapportionment plans at tional surveys on alternatives to single and Democracy. In 2001 the reapportion- (301) 270-4616 (301) 270-4133 [fax] all levels of government. Full Representation member electoral systems. Short-term ment/redistricting of legislative bodies will oc- www.fairvote.org will increase awareness of alternative election sys- training programs have been conducted cur at the state and local levels, and the lines [email protected] tems as a strategy/option to achieve minority politi- for non-governmental organizations, will be drawn for Congress, state legislatures, cal empowerment and fair representation for peo- elected government officials and adminis- county commissions, city councils and school Bob Holmes, Ph.D., Director ple of color. trators in-country and in the U.S. boards. Since the Supreme Court decisions in Southern Center For Studies In Public Shaw v. Reno (1993) and Miller v. Johnson Policy (1995), which established that race could not be used as the primary criterion in redistricting For moreRob Richie,information, Executive contact Director: and reapportionment, black elected officials TheThe Center Center for For Voting Voting and andDemocracy Democracy The Center for Voting and De- have become more interested in exploring al- 6930 Carroll Ave., Suite 901 mocracy studies and provides informa- ternatives to single member districts. TakomaFred Park, McBride, MD 20912 Project Director tion on how voting systems affect partici- The principle of “full representation” (301)Goro 270 O.- 4616Mitchell, (301) Rese 270-arch4133[fax] Associate pation, governance, and representation. voting systems—also called “proportional rep- www.fairvote.org [email protected]