| Newsletter no. 27 |
April 7, 2008 |
Illinois Governor Blagojevich Signs National Popular Vote Bill
SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, April 7, 2008 — Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today signed the National Popular Vote bill. The bill has been signed into law in Maryland (10 electoral votes), New Jersey (15 electoral votes), and Illinois (21 electoral votes). This total of 46 electoral votes is more than one-sixth of the 270 electoral votes needed to bring the legislation into effect.
Governor Blagojevich said,
"This nation is built on the principle 'for the people, by the people.' By signing this law, we in Illinois are making it clear that we believe every voter has an equal voice in electing our nation's leaders. As a U.S. Congressman, I co-sponsored a House Joint Resolution to abolish the Electoral College and to provide for the direct election of the President and Vice President. I'm proud Illinois is leading the way by joining this landmark compact that will help shape our Democracy in to future."
The National Popular Vote bill has now been passed by one-sixth of the nation's state legislative chambers (16 of 99). Most recently, it has been passed by the Maine Senate, Vermont Senate, and both houses in Hawaii. The map on our home page shows the progress of the bill in each state.
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 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.
Under the winner-take-all rule, candidates have no reason to poll, visit, advertise, organize, campaign, or worry about the concerns of voters of states that they cannot possibly win or lose. This means that voters in two thirds of the states are effectively disenfranchised in presidential elections because candidates concentrate their attention on a small handful of "battleground" states. In 2004, candidates concentrated over two-thirds of their money and campaign visits in just five states; over 80% in nine states; and over 99% of their money in just 16 states.
The Cook Political Report last week released their list of 13 battleground states for 2008, including 7 closely divided states (New Hampshire, Nevada, New Mexico, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Florida) and 6 "Republican leaning" states (Missouri and Colorado), and 4 Democratically-leaning states (Oregon, Minnesota, Michigan, and Pennsylvania).
Illinois is the largest state that received no visits by either presidential candidate in the 2004 general election.
Barry Fadem, California attorney and President of National Popular Vote, said:
"Democratically-leaning Illinois and Republican-leaning Indiana are ignored in presidential elections, whereas similarly-sized nearby states, such as Ohio and Wisconsin, were the center of attention in the 2004 presidential campaign."
Dr. John R. Koza, Chairman of National Popular Vote and originator of the bill, said:
"In this year's presidential primaries, voters in Illinois and across the country have seen that their vote matters. Unfortunately, the November 2008 election will be conducted in just 13 closely divided battleground states. Voters in three-quarters of the states, including Illinois, will be ignored by the presidential campaigns."
The National Popular Vote bill is based on the provision of the U.S. Constitution giving the states exclusive control over the manner of awarding of their electoral votes. The winner-take-all rule is not in the U.S. Constitution. It was used by only 3 states in the nation's first presidential election. Maine (since 1969) and Nebraska (since 1992) currently award electoral votes by congressional districts—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 enacted in a group of states possessing 270 or more electoral votes, all of the electoral votes from those states would be awarded, as a bloc, to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).
70% of the public has long supported nationwide election of the president.
Since the idea was announced in February 2006, the bill has passed one-sixth of the legislative chambers in the U.S.—one house in Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, North Carolina, Vermont, and Washington, and both houses in California, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, and Maryland.
The bill is currently on the desk of Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle. The bill is currently endorsed by 807 state legislators—370 sponsors (in 47 states) and an additional 437 legislators who have cast recorded votes in favor of the bill.
The National Advisory Board of National Popular Vote includes former congressmen John Anderson (R–Illinois and later independent presidential candidate), John Buchanan (R–Alabama—the first Republican elected to represent Birmingham), 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).
The bill has been endorsed by the New York Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Hartford Courant, and Sacramento Bee, Common Cause and Fair Vote.
The National Popular Vote bill is described in detail in the book Every Vote Equal: A State-Based Plan for Electing the President by National Popular Vote (which can be read or down-loaded for free from our web site.
