Fair Representation Act
Sponsored By: Representative Beyer, Donald S. [D-VA-8]
Introduced
Summary
Would require ranked-choice voting for all U.S. Senate and House elections. It also would push many States to use 3-to-5 member congressional districts and impose strict nonpartisan redistricting and transparency rules.
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- Voters: Ballots would let voters rank candidates. Single-seat races would use elimination rounds and multi-seat races would use a single-transferable-vote style count.
- States and election officials: A federal commission would pay each State a per-registered-voter amount set between $4 and $8 to help update equipment, programming, ballots, audits, training, and voter education.
- Representation and redistricting: States with six or more Representatives would use multi-member districts electing 3 to 5 members each. The bill would ban winner-take-all multiwinner methods when RCV is not used, set candidate-advancement rules for primaries, require public map data and analyses, and direct courts to draw plans if a State misses deadlines.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
5 provisions identified: 4 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
Court deadlines and tools to enforce maps
This bill would set one deadline to pass final congressional maps: the earliest of the State’s own deadline (including extensions), February 15 of the election year, or 90 days before the next federal primary. If a State misses or is likely to miss, any resident could sue in federal court; a three-judge court would draw and publish the plan, which would count as enacted. If a final ruling is not expected at least three months before the primary, the court would adopt an interim plan or adjust election timelines. The Attorney General and aggrieved residents could bring cases, courts could award reasonable attorney’s fees to winning private parties, and legislatures could not claim legislative privilege. Statewide claims would use three-judge courts with fast appeals to the D.C. Circuit sitting en banc. Courts could appoint special masters and must publish plans with data and a written review. These remedies would apply beginning with the 2030 redistricting cycle.
New primary and ballot advancement rules
This bill would set how many candidates move from primaries to the general ballot. In partisan primaries, a party would nominate up to the number of seats in the district. In nonpartisan primaries, at least five, or twice the number of seats, would advance (or more if State law allows). A State could skip a separate primary if winners are decided only by votes cast on the regular general election date using ranked-choice voting.
Ranked-choice voting for federal races
This bill would require ranked-choice voting for U.S. House and Senate elections. Single-seat races would use single-seat ranked ballots; multi-seat races would use multi-seat ranked ballots. Ballots would let voters rank at least five candidates, and usually at least seats plus four. If ranked-choice cannot be used in a multi-seat race, a quota method would be required so a candidate or slate meeting the quota wins a seat. States would get a one-time payment by June 1, 2026, equal to registered voters times $4–$8 per person to cover equipment, training, and voter education. This would not change how States run state or local elections.
Stronger, transparent rules for map drawing
This bill would set ordered rules for drawing congressional maps and open the process to the public. Plans would have to follow the Constitution and Voting Rights Act and give protected groups a real chance to elect candidates, considering cohesion and racially polarized voting. Where practicable, plans would reflect political diversity and avoid extreme dominance: 3-member districts with 75%, 4-member with 80%, or 5-member with 83% of one party’s presidential vote in recent elections. Mapmakers would prefer 5-member over 4-member districts where possible and respect communities of interest. The public would get a website with plans, data, mapping tools, live-streamed hearings, draft maps posted five days before votes, and written evaluations at least 48 hours before votes, with language access where required. These rules would apply to redistricting using the 2030 census and later.
Multi-member House districts in most states
This bill would require States with six or more U.S. House seats to use districts that each elect three to five members, with equal population per member. States with five or fewer seats would elect all members at-large, and States with six or seven seats could choose to elect all at-large. If a court finds multi-member or at-large districts would deny voting rights because of race, the court would publish a plan with only single-member districts and the multi-member rules would not apply to that plan. These rules would apply starting with the 123rd Congress and later.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Beyer, Donald S. [D-VA-8]
VA • D
Cosponsors
McGovern
MA • D
Sponsored 7/23/2025
Khanna
CA • D
Sponsored 7/23/2025
Rep. Neguse, Joe [D-CO-2]
CO • D
Sponsored 8/29/2025
Rep. Tlaib, Rashida [D-MI-12]
MI • D
Sponsored 8/29/2025
Rep. Raskin, Jamie [D-MD-8]
MD • D
Sponsored 7/23/2025
Peters
CA • D
Sponsored 7/23/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov