New Hampshire Representative Ellen Read (D-Newmarket) has introduced HB 1540 into the upcoming 2018 legislative session. See this story. The bill has co-sponsors from more than one party. Thanks to Electionline for the link.
Ballot Access News
Edited By Richard Winger
Why does the bill use such a stupid method for multi-member elections?
Would make more sense to either use single-transferable for the multi-member districts or transfer votes until there’s n number of candidates left to fill n number of seats; effectively a single non-transferable vote (which is basically what they use now) with instant run-off being used to remove the poorest performers.
Abolish multi-member gerrymander districts – one more corrupt device to crush 49.99999 percent minorities — even worse than single member gerrymander districts.
PR and AppV
Demo Rep…. Multi-member districts using single non-transferable, or single-transferable are semi-proportional (using non-transferable), or proportional (using transferable). The only difference is you vote for actual candidates instead of a party.
So do you want to keep proving how clueless you are, or are you going to shut up now?
AJ — The usual multi-member district elects 2 or more *at large* in the district —
ie top N.
vote for N at most, top N get elected — as in many townships and smaller villages and cities.
Other clueless folks can shut up.
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PR and AppV
1784 NH Constitution, as amended – parts — notes omitted except for Art. 11.
[Art.] 9. [Representatives Elected Every Second Year; Apportionment of Representatives.] There shall be in the legislature of this state a house of representatives, biennially elected and founded on principles of equality, and representation therein shall be as equal as circumstances will admit. The whole number of representatives to be chosen from the towns, wards, places, and representative districts thereof established hereunder, shall be not less than three hundred seventy-five or more than four hundred. As soon as possible after the convening of the next regular session of the legislature, and at the session in 1971, and every ten years thereafter, the legislature shall make an apportionment of representatives according to the last general census of the inhabitants of the state taken by authority of the United States or of this state. In making such apportionment, no town, ward or place shall be divided nor the boundaries thereof altered.
[Art.] 11. [Small Towns; Representation by Districts.] When the population of any town or ward, according to the last federal census, is within a reasonable deviation from the ideal population for one or more representative seats, the town or ward shall have its own district of one or more representative seats. The apportionment shall not deny any other town or ward membership in one non-floterial representative district. When any town, ward, or unincorporated place has fewer than the number of inhabitants necessary to entitle it to one representative, the legislature shall form those towns, wards, or unincorporated places into representative districts which contain a sufficient number of inhabitants to entitle each district so formed to one or more representatives for the entire district. In forming the districts, the boundaries of towns, wards, and unincorporated places shall be preserved and contiguous. The excess number of inhabitants of district may be added to the excess number of inhabitants of other districts to form at-large or floterial districts conforming to acceptable deviations. The legislature shall form the representative districts at the regular session following every decennial federal census.
[NOTE- Amended November 7, 2006 to enable towns with sufficient population to have their own representative district and permits the use of floterial districts.]
[Art.] 11-a. [Division of Town, Ward or Place; Representative Districts.] Notwithstanding Articles 9 and 11, a law providing for an apportionment to form representative districts under Articles 9 and 11 of Part Second may divide a town, ward or unincorporated place into two or more representative districts if such town, ward or place, by referendum requests such division.
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[Art.] 25. [Senate, How Constituted.] The senate shall consist of twenty-four members.
[Art.] 26. [Senatorial Districts, How Constituted.] And that the state may be equally represented in the senate, the legislature shall divide the state into single-member districts, as nearly equal as may be in population, each consisting of contiguous towns, city wards and unincorporated places, without dividing any town, city ward or unincorporated place. The legislature shall form the single-member districts at its next session after approval of this article by the voters of the state and thereafter at the regular session following each decennial federal census.
[Art.] 26-a. [Division of Town, Ward or Place; Senatorial Districts.] Notwithstanding Article 26 or any other article, a law providing for an apportionment to form senatorial districts under Article 26 of Part Second may divide a town, ward or unincorporated place into two or more senatorial districts if such town, ward or place by referendum requests such division.
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*at large* and *floterial* meaning in 2006 ??? Duh.
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PR and AppV — even in regimes having 1784 state constitutions — based on English gerrymander stuff from the 1200s-1600s.
http://sos.nh.gov/2016RepGen.aspx
2016 NH state rep gerrymander results — have fun with the multi-member districts math.
@DR, re: floterial districts
After the 2002 Census, the NH Supreme Court ruled against New Hampshire’s apportionment and noted that floterial districts were not mentioned in the state constitution. The court redrew the map, forming multi-town, multi-member districts that had a population equivalent to a whole number of districts. The number of districts was drastically reduced, while being increased in size. As a consequence, the constitution was amended.
If you have two towns Smalltown and Littleville, which are entitled to 1.4 and 1.6 representatives, there are at least five ways to handle it:
(a) Give Littleville 2 representatives and Smalltown 1 representative;
(b) Divide the area into three districts, one entirely in Smalltown, one entirely in Littleville, and one spanning the board with about 60% in Littleville and 40% in Smalltown;
(c) Give the two towns 3 representative elected at large;
(d) Let Littleville elect 1 representative, Smalltown 1 representative, and the two electing one representative at-large in a floterial district;
(e) Let Littleville elect two representatives who exercise 1.6 weighted votes and Smalltown elect two representative who exercise 1.4 weighted votes.
JR-
PM = TM x TPV / TV [NOT exact]
Solve for
P
M
T
V
PM Voting Powers = PV [Exact]
Difficult for the oligarchs in the gerrymander regimes only.