NYT Opinion Backs 64%-36% Proportional Voting Fix for U.S. Elections
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 4
NYT Opinion Backs 64%-36% Proportional Voting Fix for U.S. Elections
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 4
Summary
A New York Times opinion essay argues the U.S. can make elections fairer by changing voting rules, not just by fighting partisan map-drawing.
This year’s redistricting battles, described as unusually vicious, are presented as proof that even anti-gerrymandering reforms have not fixed deeper distortions in winner-take-all elections.
Proportional representation is offered as one remedy: larger multimember districts would allocate seats roughly by vote share, as in Nebraska where a 64%-36% House vote split in 2024 could have produced a 2-1 delegation instead of 3-0 Republican.
The essay says that approach faces major political and legal obstacles, including voter resistance to party-list voting, attachment to single-member local districts, and a federal ban on multimember House districts dating to 1967.