Albany - Senator Joseph A. Griffo (R-IP-C, Rome) today called the Senate passage of the National Popular Vote Bill (S.2286-A) an important step to ensure that the voice of the people is heard at every level of government.

"Presidential elections should be a time when the entire nation is galvanized into action through a vibrant democracy because every citizen has a voice in setting the nation's direction for the next four years," Griffo said. "When I carried and supported nearly identical legislation back in 2008, I thought that it might take several years before an idea like this took hold in New York."

If the Assembly and Governor agree, the National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and the District of Columbia) instead of the current winner-take-all setup that gives all of a state's electoral votes to the candidate with the most votes in that state.

Griffo said that each state takes matters into their own hands by creating a binding interstate compact to assure that the winner of the national popular vote becomes president. For the compact to take effect, each state wanting to join enacts the same 888-word bill giving all of its electoral votes to the candidate receiving the greatest number of votes nationally. The compact only takes effect when enough states join to form a majority of electoral votes (270 of 538).

"The reality is that because of the Electoral College, much of the nation is shunted into Red or Blue sides. By October, presidential candidates will focus their campaign on only on a handful of battleground or swing states," Griffo added. "The majority of states, large and small, are neglected. We in New York know how it feels to be treated as if we were presidentially politically irrelevant: an entire state and its voters are ignored by one party and taken for granted by the other. That's not the democracy I want to leave as my legacy to the future. I want to help create a vibrant new democracy that sparks activism instead of abetting apathy."

Griffo noted that, according to the National Popular Vote organization, so far the bill has been enacted by state legislatures representing 61 electoral votes — 23% of the 270 necessary to activate the law (Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, and Washington).

"The current system does not serve the people," Griffo said, citing research by National Popular Vote:

• Presidential candidates concentrate over two-thirds of their advertising money and campaign visits in just five very close states, and over 99% of their advertising money in just 16 battleground states.
• The spectator states in presidential elections include 9 of the nation's 13 most populous ones (California, Texas, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, North Carolina, Georgia, Massachusetts, and Virginia), 12 of the 13 least populous states (all but New Hampshire), and a majority of the other states.
• It's not only the big states. Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Alaska regularly vote Republican, and Rhode Island, Delaware, Hawaii, Vermont, Maine, and DC regularly vote Democratic.

These 12 Sideline States together contain 11 million people and have 40 electoral votes. Ohio, with 11 million people and 20 electoral votes, is a battleground, but the 11 million people in the 12 non-competitive small states are utterly irrelevant.

"Elections are the cornerstone of our democracy," Griffo said. "There is nothing more important in the American system of government than elections that attract voters, that challenge those of us who run for office to deal with all the people and all the issues, and that energize our system by attracting voters to participate in the process. The current system of electing a president effectively disenfranchises millions of Americans because they live in states where one candidate or the other has a safe majority. At a time when America needs its citizens to be involved in government and elections, we need to ensure that every vote counts and that the popular vote is the true measure of victory."