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 all 50 states (and the District of Columbia).

The National Popular Vote bill has been enacted by states possessing 61 electoral votes — 23% of the 270 necessary to activate the law (Hawaii, Washington, Illinois, New Jersey, and Maryland). The bill has passed 27 legislative chambers in 17 states, including Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

The bill is currently endorsed by 1,659 state legislators — 763 sponsors (in 48 states) and an additional 896 legislators who have cast recorded votes in favor of the bill.

The shortcomings of the current system stem from the winner-take-all rule that awards all of a state’s electoral votes to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in each state.

Because of the winner-take-all rule, a candidate can win the Presidency without winning the most popular votes nationwide. This has occurred in 4 of the nation’s 56 presidential elections (and 1 in 7 of the non-landslide elections). A shift of a few thousand votes in one or two states would have elected the second-place candidate in 5 of the last 12 elections. A shift of 60,000 votes in Ohio in 2004 would have defeated Bush despite his nationwide lead of 3,500,000 votes.

Another shortcoming of the winner-take-all rule is that candidates have no reason to poll, visit, advertise, or organize in states where they are comfortably ahead or hopelessly behind. In 2008, candidates concentrated over two-thirds of their campaign visits and ad money in just six states and 98% in just 15 states.

The U.S. Constitution gives the states exclusive and plenary control over the manner of awarding their electoral votes. The winner-take-all rule is not in the Constitution. It was not the Founder’s choice (having been used by only three states in the nation’s first presidential election). Maine and Nebraska currently award electoral votes by district—a reminder that a federal constitutional amendment is not required to change the way the President is elected.

The National Popular Vote 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). When the bill is in effect, all the electoral votes from the states that enacted the bill would be awarded, as a bloc, to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).

The bill has been endorsed by the New York Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Sacramento Bee, Common Cause, and Fair Vote.

A recent Washington Post, Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard University poll shows 72% of Americans support nationwide election of the President. Polls in 24 states are similar.

The National Advisory Board of National Popular Vote includes former congressmen John Anderson (R–Illinois and later independent presidential candidate), John Buchanan (R–Alabama), Tom Campbell (R–California), and Tom Downey (D–New York), and former Senators Birch Bayh (D–Indiana), David Durenberger (R–Minnesota), and Jake Garn (R–Utah).

Additional information is available in the 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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This memo discusses the most commonly raised issues.

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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 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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