A plural district or multi-member district refers to an electoral district in the United States of America which can send multiple individuals to represent the same district. Currently, these districts exist only at the level of state and local governments; there were such districts in the United States House of Representatives until federally (nationally) prohibited by the 1842 Apportionment Bill and consequent locally implementing legislation. States using this method elected multiple members from some of their geographically defined districts. They did so on a single ballot (block voting) or on separate concurrent ballots for each seat (conducting multiple plurality elections).
Multi-member districts give more populous counties or established Congressional Districts fair representation without redistricting (specifically, dividing them). Multi-member districts exist in other countries and bodies.
There are several states which allow one district to elect more than one representative to the state legislature. Some states which employ this system appear below.[1] [2] [3]
The states below always use multi-member districts.[4]
This is a table of every instance of the use of plural districts in the United States Congress.
| Congress | State:plural district(s) (#detailed) |
|---|---|
| MA:13 (#1, 2, 3, 4) | |
| PA:2 (#4) | |
| 5th | |
| 6th | |
| 7th | |
| MD:2 (#5), PA:8 (#1, 2, 3, 4) | |
| MD:2 (#5), NY:2 (#2 combined with 3), PA:8 (#1, 2, 3, 4) | |
| 10th | |
| MD:2 (#5), NY:4 (#2, 6), PA:8 (#1, 2, 3, 4) | |
| 12th | |
| MD:2 (#5), NY:12 (#1, 2, 12, 15, 20, 21), PA:14 (#1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10), NJ:6 (#1, 2, 3) | |
| MD:2 (#5), NY:12 (#1, 2, 12, 15, 20, 21), PA:14 (#1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10) | |
| 15th | |
| 16th | |
| MD:2 (#5), NY:10 (#1, 2, 12, 15, 20), PA:14 (#1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10) | |
| MD:2 (#5), NY:7 (#3, 20, 26), PA:14 (#4, 7, 8, 9, 11, 16) | |
| 20th | |
| NY:12 (#3, 8, 17, 22, 23), PA:5 (#2, 4) | |
| MD:2 (#4), NY:12 (#3, 8, 17, 22, 23), PA:5 (#2, 4) | |
| 25th | |
| 26th | |
| 27th |