119th Congress Government Operations and Politics
H.R. 4632: Fair Representation Act
Introduced
- Introduced (completed)
- Passed House (not reached)
- Passed Senate (not reached)
- To the President (not reached)
- Became law (not reached)
Summary
This bill requires ranked-choice voting (a system in which voters rank candidates in order of preference) in certain federal elections and requires the use of multi-member districts in certain states. It also outlines criteria for congressional redistricting and generally prohibits mid-decade redistricting.
Specifically, the bill requires states to use ranked-choice voting in elections for Senators and Members of the House of Representatives. The Election Assistance Commission must make payments to states to implement ranked-choice voting.
The bill generally requires (1) that states entitled to six or more Representatives establish districts such that three to five Representatives are elected from each district, and (2) that states entitled to fewer than six Representatives elect all Representatives on an at-large basis.
Read the full summary
The bill also sets forth criteria for congressional redistricting, including by (1) requiring congressional districts to comply with the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and (2) prohibiting the use of a redistricting plan that was drawn with the intent (or has the effect of) materially favoring or disfavoring any political party.
The bill creates judicial remedies if a state fails to enact a final congressional redistricting plan. In particular, if a state fails to enact such a final plan by the applicable deadline, then a three-judge district court shall have the exclusive authority to develop and publish the congressional redistricting plan for the state.
The bill also includes a provision to prevent states from redistricting more than once following an apportionment (i.e., mid-decade redistricting).
Written by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.
Roll calls
No roll call votes have been held on this bill.
Amendments
No amendments were offered to this bill.
Cosponsors
- Ro Khanna D-CAOriginal
- James McGovern D-MAOriginal
- Scott Peters D-CAOriginal
- Jamie Raskin D-MDOriginal
- Joe Neguse D-CO
- Rashida Tlaib D-MI
- Jerrold Nadler D-NY
Who scored on this bill
No member has earned points from it yet.
See all scorers and every scoring event
Introductions and cosponsorships count toward weekly caps and show no points.
History
- Introduced in the House by Donald Beyer.
Show the full action history (2 actions)
- Introduced in House
- Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.