Sec. 101. Requiring ranked choice voting for election of Representatives
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Title III of the Help America Vote Act of 2001 ( 52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new subtitle: Each State shall carry out elections for the office of Representative in Congress, including primary, special, and runoff elections for such office, using a system of ranked choice voting under which each voter shall rank the candidates for the office in the order of the voter’s preference, in accordance with this title. Each State shall ensure that the ballot used in an election carried out using a system of ranked choice voting under this title meets each of the following requirements:
The ballot shall be simple and easy to understand. The ballot shall include all qualified candidates for the election and (to the extent permitted under State law) options for voters to select write-in candidates. If feasible, the ballot shall permit voters to rank every candidate in the election. If it is not feasible for the ballot to permit voters to rank every candidate, the State may limit the number of candidates who may be ranked on the ballot to not fewer than 6. The ballot shall include such instructions as the State considers necessary to enable the voter to rank candidates and successfully cast the ballot under the system.
In this subtitle, the term Representative includes a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress. This subtitle shall apply with respect to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in the same manner as this subtitle applies to a State. Nothing in this title shall be construed to require a State to hold a primary election for the office of Representative in Congress prior to the date established under section 25 of the Revised Statutes of the United States ( 2 U.S.C. 7 ) for the regularly scheduled general election for such office, so long as the determination of the candidates who are elected to such office is based solely on the votes cast with respect to the election held on such date, as determined in accordance with the system of ranked choice voting under this title.
In a single-seat election, the number of votes received by a candidate shall be equal to the sum of— the number of ballots cast in the election on which the candidate was the highest-ranked candidate; and the number of votes transferred to the candidate under subsection (b)(2). In the case of a single-seat election, a candidate shall be elected to the office of Representative in Congress (or, in the case of a primary election, shall advance to the general election for such office as provided under the law of the State involved) if— the candidate receives a number of votes greater than 50 percent of the number of ballots cast in the election; or if the election official carries out an additional round of tabulation under subsection (b), the candidate receives the greatest number of votes of the 2 remaining continuing candidates (as described in such subsection).
If, under the initial tabulation of ballots in a single-seat election, no candidate is elected to office (or, in the case of a primary election, no candidate advances to the general election for such office) under the criteria described in subsection (a)(2)(A), the election official shall carry out additional rounds of tabulation in accordance with paragraph
(2)until only 2 continuing candidates remain. In each additional round of tabulation carried out under this subsection— the candidate receiving the fewest number of votes among all candidates (or, in the case of a State which applies batch elimination under paragraph (3), each candidate in the batch elimination group) shall be treated as a defeated candidate; for each ballot cast for a defeated candidate, the election official shall determine the highest-ranked candidate on the ballot who is a continuing candidate; and the vote cast on the ballot shall be transferred to, and added to the total number of votes received by, the highest-ranked continuing candidate determined under subparagraph (B). At the option of the State, with respect to any additional round of tabulation carried out under this subsection, a State may use batch elimination to treat multiple candidates as defeated candidates for purposes of paragraph
(2)if such candidates may be placed in a batch elimination group described as follows: If a candidate is in the group, the group includes each candidate who has received a total number of votes which is less than or equal to the total number of votes received by the candidate. The total number of votes received by all candidates in the group is less than the number of votes received by any candidate who is not in the group. At least 2 candidates are not in the group. In this section— the term continuing candidate means, with respect to an additional round of tabulation conducted under subsection (b), a candidate who is not treated as a defeated candidate during the tabulation of ballots under this section; and the term single-seat election means— a general election in which one Representative shall be elected; or a primary election in which one candidate shall advance to the general election. In the case of a multi-seat election, the number of votes received by a candidate shall be equal to the sum of— the number of ballots cast in the election on which the candidate was the highest-ranked candidate, based on the initial tabulation of ballots; and the number of votes transferred and added with respect to the candidate under subsection (b). In the case of a multi-seat election, a candidate shall be considered to be a winning candidate and shall be elected to one of the offices of Representative in the Congressional district (or, in the case of a primary election, shall advance to the general election for such offices as provided under the law of the State involved) if— the candidate receives a number of votes greater than the multi-seat election threshold, as determined under this section; or the candidate is a continuing candidate and the total number of winning and continuing candidates is equal to or less than the required number of winning candidates with respect to the election. If under the initial tabulation of ballots in a multi-seat election, the number of winning candidates is less than the required number of winning candidates with respect to the election and there is at least one continuing candidate, the election official shall carry out additional rounds of tabulation in accordance with this subsection until the number of winning candidates is equal to such required number of winning candidates. The additional rounds of tabulation under this subsection are as follows: Surplus vote tabulation rounds under which surplus votes cast for winning candidates are transferred to other candidates, as described in paragraph (2). Candidate elimination rounds under which votes cast for defeated candidates are transferred to other candidates, as described in paragraph (3). Under a surplus vote tabulation round carried out under this paragraph, the election official shall transfer to, and add to the total number of votes received by, each continuing candidate a number of votes equal to the product of— the surplus vote allocation percentage for the winning candidate who has received the greatest number of votes as of the beginning of the surplus vote tabulation round (as determined under subparagraph (B)), excluding any candidate from whom surplus votes have been transferred in any previous surplus vote tabulation round under this paragraph; and the number of ballots cast for such winning candidate on which such continuing candidate was the highest-ranked continuing candidate, as determined by the election official. For purposes of clause
(i)of subparagraph (A), the number of votes received by a candidate as of the beginning of a surplus vote tabulation round under this paragraph shall be determined by taking into account— the transfer of surplus votes to the candidate in a previous surplus tabulation round under this paragraph (if any), and the transfer of votes to the candidate in a candidate elimination round carried out under paragraph
(3)(if any). After transferring votes cast with respect to a winning candidate during a surplus vote tabulation round under this paragraph, the election official may not make any subsequent transfer of any of such candidate’s votes during any subsequent surplus vote tabulation round under this paragraph. In this paragraph, the term surplus vote percentage means, with respect to a winning candidate, an amount (expressed as a percentage) equal to— the difference between the total number of votes received by the candidate, as determined under subsection (a)(1), and the multi-seat election threshold; divided by the total number of votes received by the candidate, as determined under subsection (a)(1), rounded to 4 decimal places. Subject to subparagraph (C), the election official shall carry out candidate elimination rounds under this paragraph as follows: The candidate receiving the fewest number of votes among all candidates as of the beginning of the round, after taking into account the transfer of surplus votes in any surplus vote tabulation round carried out under paragraph
(2)and the transfer of votes cast for defeated candidates under any previous candidate elimination round carried out under this paragraph (or, in the case of a State which applies batch elimination under subparagraph (B), each candidate in the batch elimination group), shall be treated as a defeated candidate. For each ballot cast for a defeated candidate, the election official shall determine the highest-ranked candidate on the ballot who is a continuing candidate. The vote cast on the ballot shall be transferred to, and added to the total number of votes received by, the highest-ranked continuing candidate determined under clause (ii). At the option of the State, with respect to any candidate elimination round carried out under this subsection, a State may use batch elimination to treat multiple candidates as defeated candidates for purposes of subparagraph
(A)if such candidates may be placed in a batch elimination group described as follows: If a candidate is in the group, the group includes each continuing candidate who has received a total number of votes (after taking into account the transfer of surplus votes in any surplus vote tabulation round carried out under paragraph
(2)and the transfer of votes cast for defeated candidates under any previous candidate elimination round carried out under this paragraph) which is less than or equal to the total number of votes received by the candidate (after taking into account such transfer). The total number of votes received by all candidates in the group (after taking into account such transfers of votes) is less than the number of votes received by any other continuing candidate (after taking into account such transfer). The total number of votes received by all candidates in the group (after taking into account such transfers of votes) is less than the multi-seat election threshold. The number of continuing candidates who are not in the group is equal to or greater than the difference between the number of candidates who have been elected to office under the criteria described in subsection (a)(2) and the number of Representatives to be elected from the district. The election official may not carry out a candidate elimination round under this paragraph unless, as of the beginning of the candidate elimination round, there are no winning candidates from whom surplus votes may be transferred under a surplus vote tabulation round under paragraph (2). In this section— the term continuing candidate means, with respect to an additional round of tabulation conducted under subsection (b), a candidate who is neither a winning candidate nor a candidate who is treated as a defeated candidate under such subsection during the tabulation of ballots under this section; the required number of winning candidates with respect to an election means— in the case of a general election, the number of Representatives to be elected in the Congressional district involved, or in the case of a primary election, the number of candidates required to advance to the general election for the offices of Representatives as provided under the law of the State involved; the term multi-seat election means— a general election in which more than one Representative shall be elected, or a primary election in which more than one candidate shall advance to the general election (without regard to the number of Representatives who shall be elected in that general election); the term multi-seat election threshold means, with respect to an election, an amount equal to— the number of ballots cast in the election; divided by the sum of one plus the required number of winning candidates required with respect to the election, rounded up to 4 decimal places; and the term winning candidate means a candidate who was elected to office (or, in the case of a primary election, who advanced to the general election for such office as provided under the law of the State involved) under the criteria described in subsection (a)(2) at any time during the tabulation of ballots under this section. In the initial tabulation of ballots under section 331 or section 332, a ballot shall be treated as an inactive ballot, and no vote on the ballot shall be counted for any candidate, if— the voter does not rank any candidates on the ballot in order of preference; the voter ranks more than one candidate at the highest order of preference; or the voter skips two consecutive numerical rankings prior to the numerical ranking for the candidate the voter ranks at the highest order of preference. In any additional round of tabulation conducted with respect to a single-seat election under section 331(b), if a vote cast for a defeated candidate is cast on an inactive ballot, no vote on the ballot may be transferred to a continuing candidate under section 331(b). In any additional round of tabulation conducted with respect to a multi-seat election under section 332(b)— if a vote cast for the winning candidate is cast on an inactive ballot, no portion of the surplus vote on such ballot may be transferred to a continuing candidate under any surplus vote tabulation round described in paragraph
(2)of section 332(b); and if a vote cast for a defeated candidate is cast on an inactive ballot, the vote may not be transferred to any continuing candidate under any candidate elimination round described in paragraph
(3)of section 332(b). In this subsection, the term inactive ballot means, with respect to an additional round of tabulation under section 331 or section 332— a ballot on which the voter does not rank any of the continuing candidates in order of preference; a ballot on which the voter ranked more than one continuing candidate at the highest order of preference; or a ballot on which the voter skips two or more consecutive numerical rankings prior to the ranking for the continuing candidate at the highest order of preference. For each election for Representative in Congress, the appropriate election official shall establish and publish a random selection algorithm prior to the tabulation of ballots under section 331 and section 332. If a tie occurs between candidates with the greatest number of votes or the fewest number of votes at any point in the tabulation of ballots under section 331 or section 332 and the tabulation cannot proceed until the tie is resolved, the candidate whose name is selected pursuant to the random selection algorithm established for that round under subsection
(a)shall be considered to have the greatest number of votes among such candidates. Not later than June 1, 2021, the Commission shall make a payment to the State in an amount equal to— in the case of the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, $1,500,000; or in the case of any other State, the sum of $1,000,000 and the product of— the number of Representatives to which the State is entitled under the reapportionment of Representatives resulting from the regular decennial census conducted during 2020; and $500,000. A State shall use the payment made under subsection
(a)to implement ranked choice voting under this subtitle and to otherwise carry out elections for Federal office in the State. The receipt or use of the payment made under this section shall not effect a State’s eligibility for or use of a requirements payment made under part 1 of subtitle D of title II. There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for payments under this section. . The table of contents of such Act is amended by adding at the end of the item relating to title III the following: Subtitle C—Ranked Choice Voting Part 1—Requiring Ranked Choice Voting for Election of Representatives Sec. 321. Requiring ranked choice voting for election of Representatives. Sec. 322. Application to District of Columbia and Territories. Sec. 323. Treatment of States not holding primary elections prior to date of general election. Part 2—Tabulation Process Sec. 331. Tabulation for single-seat Congressional elections. Sec. 332. Tabulation for multi-seat Congressional elections. Sec. 333. Exclusion of exhausted ballots. Sec. 334. Treatment of ties between candidates. Part 3—Payments to States To Implement Ranked Choice Voting Sec. 341. Payments to States to implement ranked choice voting. .
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