Civic · 6 pages · 12 min

How districts turn votes into seats

Districts group votes in places, and each place usually elects a fixed number of seats.

I understand the following: I can download a file of this brief, and I can also read it in the library on this browser. Clearing the cache or cookies deletes the library copy. The file must be downloaded for access to be retained.

When the purchase is complete, return to the original window. It will refresh.

From the opening

In a districted election, votes are counted inside geographic units, and each unit awards a fixed number of seats, often one. The same overall vote total can produce different seat totals because what matters is how those votes are packaged into districts that each have their own winner. The opening covers each district awards its seats, narrow wins stack up, and landslides waste surplus votes.

The rest of the brief — the later sections and the reading notes — opens after Stripe confirms payment.

Inside

Each district awards its seats
Narrow wins stack up
Landslides waste surplus votes
Geography can cluster supporters
Where the idea stops applying
A distinction worth keeping

Sources

Single-member district seat conversion
Seats-votes relationship

01How a city prices waterCivic30 min$18 09How a power grid stays balancedCivic28 min$18 0780How a census counts and also missesCivic12 min$20

How districts turn votes into seats

From the opening

Inside

Sources

Also on the desk