“Rich Tradition of Minority Party Representation Continues in Pennsylvania and Connecticut”

Chris Hughes for FairVote:

An interesting thing happened this year on Election Day in towns, cities, and counties across Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Despite the odds being stacked against them, minority parties earned representation thanks to fair representation voting methods. Many of the jurisdictions we highlight that use these sorts of non-winner-take-all voting methods had those systems imposed upon them by judges in Voting Rights Act cases, but just as many – including all these uses in Pennsylvania and Connecticut – introduced these reforms through statute.

Pennsylvania has used fair voting methods for over a century and Connecticut for more than half a century (since before the Voting Rights Act even existed). They ensure that minority parties can earn representation in communities where they would be otherwise shut out of government. Minority party representation in cities and counties across Connecticut and Pennsylvania reflects structural rules that have been in place for decades to ensure more political diversity than we see in most American cities today.

The key has been the use of a modest form of fair representation voting with the unfortunate label of “limited voting.” Contrary to the moniker, limited voting greatly expands the number of voters who can elect a candidate of choice. It does this by making sure that a single cohesive majority does not have the power to elect every single member of a legislative body. If five are to be elected, voters may only be allowed to vote for three. That way, that cohesive majority will be able to elect three, but not all five. Another group – otherwise shut out – will be able to organize to win the other two seats.

Most places in Pennsylvania and Connecticut couple limited voting with “limited nominations,” which means that no political party can nominate enough candidates to win every seat. The two are a natural fit for each other, but limited nominations is distinct from limited voting. The two do not always go together, and limited nominations raises voter choice concerns that limited voting does not.

Limited voting creates an opportunity for fair representation, but only when political parties limit their nominees, when candidates campaign to emphasize the right strategies, and when voters vote strategically. That makes limited voting a weak form of fair representation voting: it does break open winner-take-all, but it does not ensure fair results to nearly the degree as ranked choice voting does. Nevertheless, the fact that these elections took place demonstrates that U.S. elections are not all stuck in the rut of winner-take-all voting rules, and that the U.S. has a rich history of fair representation in at-large elections.

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