Fair Voting/Proportional Representation

Fair voting (sometimes called "proportional representation" and "proportional voting") describes a range of voting methods in which like-minded voters elect candidates in proportion to their share of the vote. That is, in a five-seat district, like-minded voters with 20% of votes will win one out of five seats and like-minded voters with 51% of the vote will win three of five seats. When described as proportional representation, fair voting is most well-known for its use in many European countries with party-based systems and a parliamentary form of government. But forms of fair voting can be used in nonpartisan elections and "parliamentary system" describes the structure of government rather than how that government is elected. Fair voting is used in nearly all major, well-established democracies.

As applied to the United States, fair voting typically describes candidate-based systems currently used in the U.S.: choice voting, cumulative voting and the one vote form of limited voting. Of these methods, choice voting (known internationally as the single transferable vote) is the method most likely to provide fair representation to voters.  In the United States, choice voting is used in local elections in Cambridge (MA) and some local offices in Minneapolis (MN). Cumulative voting and limited voting are used for some local elections in Peoria (IL), Amarillo (TX), Hartford (CT) and many other smaller localities