No one likes gerrymandering — we all wish it would go away. And there is a way to make it functionally impossible: proportional representation. It’s the dominant electoral system around the world for a reason. A percentage of votes gets you a corresponding percentage of seats. That’s it.
Today, in partnership with our amazing friends at RepresentUs, Protect Democracy released this video on why proportional representation is gerrymandering-proof.
In the wake of last week’s midterms, everyone’s talking about whether gerrymandering backfired, whether the gerrymandering wars are over (definitely not; absent reform, things will only get worse), and whether the new Congress will attempt to ban gerrymandering.
It’s true: This election — with its unique combo of extreme gerrymandering, overwhelming turnout, and a sweeping result — is the best opportunity to end gerrymandering in at least a generation.
But how could we move towards proportional representation?
The good news is that unlike other reforms that demand a constitutional amendment, we could implement proportional representation for House elections through a simple act of Congress; in fact, Congress need only change 8 words in current law to allow for proportional representation.
The biggest hurdle has always been whether there is sufficient political will to change our system.
But system change is what voters just demanded — 8 in 10 voters say we need “substantial change or complete and total upheaval” in how we run our country. If the pro-democracy coalition is serious about ending the gerrymandering wars, addressing the Supreme Court’s Callais decision that allowed for racial gerrymanders, and truly creating a multiracial, multiparty democracy, then we must come together, as a country, to advance proportional representation.
You can read more about proportional representation here. Please forward and share this video, hit the restack button, all of it.
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