Cumulative Ballot

A cumulative ballot (or cumulative voting) is a semi-proportional electoral system used in multi-member districts where each voter is allocated a number of votes equal to the number of seats to be filled and is permitted to concentrate those votes on fewer candidates rather than spreading them one-per-candidate. By "plumping" all available votes on a single preferred candidate, a cohesive minority can secure representation it would otherwise be denied under bloc plurality voting.

The mechanism has historically been used to protect minority interests:

• Illinois House of Representatives: From 1870 until its abolition by the Cutback Amendment in 1980, Illinois elected its lower house using cumulative voting in three-member districts, with voters able to allocate three votes among candidates (including fractional distributions like 1.5 / 1.5).
• Corporate governance: Many U.S. state corporation statutes permit or require cumulative voting in the election of boards of directors, allowing minority shareholders to elect at least one director.
• Local U.S. jurisdictions: A number of municipalities and school boards, particularly in Texas and Alabama, adopted cumulative voting in the 1990s and 2000s as a remedy in lawsuits brought under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to address vote dilution.

Cumulative balloting is distinct from limited voting (where voters have fewer votes than seats but cannot stack them) and from single transferable vote (a fully preferential ranked system). Its proportionality depends on strategic coordination: a minority must concentrate its votes and avoid running too many candidates, while a majority must avoid spreading itself too thin. Political scientists including Lani Guinier have advocated cumulative voting as an alternative to single-member districts for promoting minority representation without race-conscious districting. Critics note its reliance on voter sophistication and the difficulty of slate management for parties.