Can a US state distribute house seats based on proportional votes

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Can a US state do a statewide election where you vote for a party and it’s proportionally distributed so you can avoid gerrymandering?

5 seats available: 50.01% R, 49.99%D => 3R, 2D

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Anonymous 0 Comments

No, not federally at least. There was an act passed in the 60’s called the Uniform Congressional District Act that requires US House of Representatives members to represent a single geographical district. Prior to that, I believe that certain states did elect representatives at large (meaning they represented the entire state, proportionally), but that was disallowed after that point. Each state must be divided into districts (which can, of course, be fought over and gerrymandered), and each Representative is the sole winner of their district.

The only exception to this is the states with a small enough population that they only get one congressperson – in that case, the whole state *is* the district. There are only 6 of those small population states – North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Vermont, Delaware, and Alaska. Along with the territories and districts that send non-voting members like DC, Guam, Puerto Rico, etc.

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