The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and the District of Columbia).

Under the U.S. Constitution, the states have exclusive and plenary (complete) power to allocate their electoral votes, and may change their state laws concerning the awarding of their electoral votes at any time. Under the National Popular Vote bill, all of the state's electoral votes would be awarded to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The bill would take effect only when enacted, in identical form, by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes—that is, enough electoral votes to elect a President (270 of 538).

The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in the entire United States.

The bill ensures that every vote, in every state, will matter in every presidential election.

The bill has been enacted by 9 jurisdictions possessing 132 electoral votes—49% of the 270 necessary to activate it (VT, MD, WA, IL, NJ, DC, MA, CA, HI).

The bill has passed a total of 31 legislative chambers in 21 jurisdictions (AR, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, HI, IL, ME, MD, MA, MI, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OR, RI, VT, WA). In the 47–13 vote in the Republican-controlled New York Senate, Republicans supported the bill 21–11, and Democrats supported it 26–2. The bill has been endorsed by 2,124 state legislators.

The shortcomings of the current system stem from state winner-take-all statutes (that award all of a state’s electoral votes to the candidate receiving the most popular votes in each state).

The most important consequence of state winner-take-all statutes is that presidential candidates have no reason to pay attention to the concerns of voters in states where they are comfortably ahead or hopelessly behind. Four out of five Americans were ignored in the 2012 presidential election. After being nominated, Obama conducted campaign events in just eight closely divided battleground states, and Romney did so in only 10. These 10 states received 98% of the $940 million spent on campaign advertising. Forty states were mere spectators.

State winner-take-all statutes have permitted candidates to win the Presidency without winning the most popular votes nationwide in 4 of our 57 elections — 1 in 14 times. A shift of 59,393 votes in Ohio in 2004 would have elected John Kerry despite President Bush’s nationwide lead of over 3,000,000 votes. A shift of 214,390 votes in 2012 would have elected Mitt Romney despite President Obama’s nationwide lead of almost 5,000,000 votes.

Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution gives the states exclusive control over the manner of awarding their electoral votes: “Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors….” The winner-take-all rule is not in the Constitution. It was used by only three states in our nation’s first election in 1789. Maine and Nebraska’s awarding of electoral votes by district is a reminder that states control the process.

Under the National Popular Vote bill, all the electoral votes from the enacting states would be awarded to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC). The bill would take effect only when enacted by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes—that is, enough electoral votes to elect a President (270 of 538).

The National Popular Vote bill preserves the Electoral College and state control of elections.

State polls are favorable: AK–70%, AR–80%, AZ–67%, CA–70%, CO–68%, CT–74%, DC–76%, DE–75%, FL–78%, ID–77%, IA–75%, KY–80%, ME–77%, MA–73%, MI–73%, MN–75%, MS–77%, MO–70%, MT–72%, NH–69%, NE–74%, NV–72%, NM–76%, NY–79%, NC–74%, OH–70%, OK–81%, OR–76%, PA–78%, RI–74%, SC–71%, SD–75%, TN–83%, UT–70%, VT–75%, VA–74%, WA–77%, WI–71%, WV–81%, and WY–69%.

Our National Advisory Board includes former Senators Jake Garn (R–UT), Birch Bayh (D–IN), and David Durenberger (R–MN); former congressmen John Anderson (R–IL, I), John Buchanan (R–AL), Tom Campbell (R–CA), and Tom Downey (D–NY). Backers include former Senator Fred Thompson (R–TN), Governor Jim Edgar (R–IL), and Cong. Tom Tancredo (R–CO).

Additional information is available in our book Every Vote Equal: A State-Based Plan for Electing the President by National Popular Vote and at www.NationalPopularVote.com.

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You can read or download, for free, our book Every Vote Equal: A State-Based Plan for Electing the President by National Popular Vote, at www.every-vote-equal.com.

The National Popular Vote bill consists of this 888-word interstate compact.

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A detailed explanation of this legislation appears in chapter 6 of Every Vote Equal: A State-Based Plan for Electing the President by National Popular Vote.

Editorials from New York Times (two editorials), Chicago Sun-Times, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Hartford Courant, Sacramento Bee, and Fayetteville Observer.

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A discussion of the constitutionality of the proposed interstate compact entitled the "Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote"; the historical appropriateness of the National Popular Vote bill; and the advantages of interstate compacts over constitutional amendments.

A discussion as to whether congressional consent is required for the proposed interstate compact entitled the "Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote."

A discussion of how recounts would be less likely under a national popular vote for President than under the current system.

A discussion of the hypothetical scenario in which a state might try to change the "rules of the game" between the November general election for President and the mid-December meeting of the Electoral College by withdrawing from the interstate compact entitled the "Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote".

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Prepared Remarks

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