In the United States, multi-member
electoral districts are typically called
plural districts. Currently, these districts exist only in state and local governments, being prohibited at the national level by the
Uniform Congressional District Act (UCDA). Multi-member districts were used at different times to elect the
United States House of Representatives, with alternating prohibitions and allowances enacted in history. The first federal (national) ban on multi-member districts for the House was by the 1842
Apportionment Bill. Multi-member districts that were used to elect members to the House reflected geographically defined districts. Multiple members were elected using a contest where each voter had as many votes as seats being filled (
block voting) or using distinct ballots, in a separate contest for each seat (conducting simultaneous but separate single-winner contests in the same district using
first-past-the-post voting). Occasionally the
general ticket election system was used.
State governmental systems Several states allow one district to elect more than one representative to the state legislature. Some states that use this districting appear below. The states below always use multi-member districts. • Arizona (two in each district) • New Jersey (two in each district) • South Dakota (two in each district) • Washington (two in each district) Other states use districts of diverse
district magnitude. The
New Hampshire House of Representatives uses differently sized districts with up to 10 members and
block voting. Illinois's historic use of
cumulative voting entailed use of plural districts.
United States Congress This is a table of every instance of the use of plural districts in the United States Congress until the first ban, which was enacted in 1842. Instances after are not included. District magnitude varied from 2 to 4 in many cases. ==See also==