January 17, 2025 11:06AM # Election Policy Roundup By [Walter Olson](https://www.cato.org/people/walter-olson) --- SHARE Listen to this article Generated with [ ElevenLabs](https://elevenlabs.io/) AI technology. Loading the [Elevenlabs Text to Speech](https://elevenlabs.io/text-to-speech) AudioNative Player... Number six in our [series of occasional roundups](https://www.cato.org/search?query=%22election+policy+roundup%22) on election law and policy: - *The New York Times* showcases proposals to introduce proportional representatives to the US House of Representatives \[[Jesse Wegman and Lee Drutman](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/01/14/opinion/fix-congress-proportional-representation.htm), more on [Drutman substack](https://leedrutman.substack.com/p/how-did-american-democracy-become)\]. I expressed mixed feelings when I [wrote about this idea](https://www.cato.org/commentary/proportional-representation-way) in 2023, cautioning that the problems of coalitional instability often seen in PR systems might prove damaging here. Some other counterpoints from [Richard Pildes in November](https://illinoislawreview.org/print/vol-2024-no-5/skepticism-about-proportional-representation-for-congress/) (European PR systems in fact “extraordinarily turbulent”), [Ned Foley](https://electionlawblog.org/?p=148151) (true multi-party system unlikely to emerge so long as elections for the Senate and presidency remain first-past-the-post), and [Yascha Mounk](https://yaschamounk.substack.com/p/proportional-representation-is-not) (scheme would necessarily lack constraints such as those employed in Germany to discourage local splinters and microparties). - Study finds “no evidence” of backsliding in minority electoral fortunes in states formerly covered by preclearance in the years following the Supreme Court’s *Shelby County v. Holder* decision \[[Alice Malmberg, Election Law Journal](https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/elj.2023.0052); [earlier](https://www.cato.org/blog/more-scrutiny-alarmist-election-claims) on the underwhelming practical impact of the Shelby County decision) - “New research suggests nonpartisan primaries curb the power of ideological PACs by about two-thirds.” \[[Richard Barton, Unite America](https://www.uniteamerica.org/articles/nonpartisan-primaries-special-interests-how-reform-mitigates-the-influence-of-ideological-spending-in-elections)\] - Project 2025 report contains a curious call for Pennsylvania officials to be investigated under the Ku Klux Klan Act for adopting a liberal interpretation of state law on provisional ballots. \[[Justin Levitt, Election Law Blog](https://electionlawblog.org/?p=148183)\] - Also good, from Levitt: although plenty of litigation now tends to fly around shortly before a major election, little or none of it actually poses much threat of destabilizing the outcome because most is either small-stakes, without detectable merit, or not to be decided in the present cycle. When you get down to it, much of it is filed for publicity or fundraising \[[Election Law Blog](https://electionlawblog.org?p=146934)\]. - Are you active on the social media site Bluesky? [Here’s a list I compiled](https://bsky.app/profile/walterolson.bsky.social/lists/3lbcscb3llj23) of some 30 or so Blueskyers who post on election law and reform (and don’t forget the [Cato starter pack](https://bsky.app/starter-pack/walterolson.bsky.social/3lb4a4bhqae26) of accounts to follow). ##### Related Tags [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).