Last week, Tennessee’s Republican-led State House expelled two Democratic lawmakers for participating in a protest over gun laws on the House floor. Both of those expelled were African American and among the youngest members in the chamber.

Expulsions rarely happen in state legislatures, and are almost always bipartisan votes to expel lawmakers found guilty of crimes. The Tennessee expulsions represent a shift towards politicization of this process. The fact that both of those expelled have already been re-appointed by their respective county governments in unanimous votes underscores the growing gulf between Democrats and Republicans.

This dangerous division would not be possible without the polarization and toxic use of gerrymandering enabled by winner-take-all elections. Given today’s political divides are increasingly reflected in where we live, most districts are heavily weighted in favor of one major party. And with the “spoiler effect” dominant in single-choice elections, the rise of an alternative party is nearly impossible. With only the primary election competitive in nearly all districts, representatives only have to pay attention to the concerns of the relatively few voters who vote in their party primary – and those primary voters increasingly fear and loathe the other party.

The best long-term solution for the United States to escape zero-sum, winner-take-all politics is proportional ranked choice voting. It would ensure nearly every district would be represented by members of both major parties while also allowing independent and minor parties to hold the major parties accountable. General elections would always matter in every corner of every state.

Thankfully, proportional RCV is already taking hold in communities across the nation. Just last year, the largest cities in Oregon and Maine voted to adopt it, with Portland, Oregon on track to implement it for city council elections in 2024. It was also approved for primary elections by the county board of Arlington, Virginia – meaning that on June 20, proportional RCV will be used just across the Potomac River from our nation’s capital. FairVote’s north-star legislation, the Fair Representation Act, would implement this system for U.S. House elections.