On Tuesday, 175 political scientists, historians, and legal scholars released a letter to members of the U.S. House in support of the recently introduced Resolution Establishing the Select Committee on Electoral Reform. The signatories include Larry Diamond, Barbara Walter, Francis Fukuyama, Pippa Norris, Anne-Marie Slaughter, Daniel Ziblatt, Steven Levitsky, Jane Mansbridge, Spencer Overton, and Jack Rakove.

Sponsored by Blue Dog Coalition Co-Chairs Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) and Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), House Resolution 1573 would establish a bipartisan select committee to examine current electoral methods and recommend reforms to reduce polarization and improve Congress’s functionality. Potential reforms to consider include amending the 1967 Uniform Congressional District Act to allow multi-member districts with proportional representation, amending the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929 to add more voting Members to the House of Representatives, and changing to nomination methods with open primaries and fusion voting.

“In every generation, Americans develop new ideas to modernize our political institutions so that they provide a place to constructively work out our differences, not further divide us,” states the letter. “We urge Congress to take this step towards reversing today’s dangerous levels of polarization and dysfunction and to strengthen itself as the fulcrum of our democracy.”

Protect Democracy and Fix Our House – two leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to strengthening America’s democratic institutions – also commended the resolution’s introduction.

“One thing most Americans agree on is that our democracy is not working,” said Lee Drutman, Fix Our House co-founder and senior fellow at New America. “At the heart of the crisis is our winner-take-all electoral system, which flattens our politically diverse country into just two hyper-partisan camps. This select committee will study reforms like proportional representation that can scramble that binary conflict and make it easier for more politically diverse and representative candidates to win and to form cross-partisan coalitions once elected.”

“Despite the close margin for control of Congress, the overwhelming majority of House races were not competitive this year,” said Grant Tudor, policy advocate at Protect Democracy. “Our electoral system is ultimately to blame. It’s crucial that Congress begins to seriously consider reforms that could reinvigorate healthier competition and in turn a healthier politics. This proposed select committee on electoral reform, supported by the country’s leading scholars on the topic, is a historic opportunity to do just that.”

H.Res.1573 – Establishing the Select Committee on Electoral Reform 

This legislation would establish a bipartisan select committee to examine current electoral methods and recommend reforms to improve Congress’s functionality.

• The committee would consider alternatives like multi-member districts with proportional representation, expanding the House, instant-runoff voting, fusion voting, open primaries, and independent redistricting commissions.
• The committee would conduct hearings, gather evidence, and submit a report with its findings and recommendations to Congress and the President.
• The committee will consist of seven members appointed by the Speaker of the House and seven appointed by the House Minority Leader.