Half of the 105 presidential campaign events since the nominating conventions have been in just 5 states (Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina). 31 states, including New York, have been totally ignored.
The National Popular Vote bill will change this by making every vote equal throughout the U.S. It would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate receiving the most popular votes in all 50 states and D.C.
The video below explains how your state legislature can fix the Electoral College and make every voter, in every state, matter in every presidential election.
The shortcomings of the current system of electing the President stem from state winner-take-all laws (which award all of a state's electoral votes to the candidate receiving the most popular votes in each separate state)
Because of these existing winner-take-all laws, presidential candidates have no reason to pay attention to voters in states where they are safely ahead or hopelessly behind. Details.
Fixing the Electoral College is about more than where candidates campaign. Battleground states receive 7% more presidentially controlled grants, twice as many disaster declarations, and numerous favorable actions from Presidents, as detailed in recent books such as Presidential Pork and Presidential Swing States: Why Only Ten Matter.
The "winner-take-all" method of awarding electoral votes is not in the U.S. Constitution. It was not debated by the Constitutional Convention. It was never mentioned in the Federalist Papers. Only 3 states used winner-take-all in our nation's first presidential election in 1789, and all of them repealed it by 1800.
The U.S. Constitution leaves it to each state to choose its method of selecting its presidential electors. Article II says, "Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors...."
Current state winner-take-all laws may be repealed in the same way they were originally adopted – namely by passage of a different law by the state legislature.
The National Popular Vote bill will go into effect when enacted by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes (270 of 538). Under the bill, the national popular vote winner will receive all of the electoral votes of the enacting states when the Electoral College meets in mid-December. Thus, the national popular vote winner will become President, and the Electoral College will represent the will of the voters in all 50 states (and D.C.).
So far, the National Popular Vote bill has passed a total of 34 legislative chambers in 23 states, including recent bipartisan victories:
- 40-16 vote in the Republican-controlled Arizona House
- 28-18 vote in the Republican-controlled Oklahoma Senate
- 57-4 vote in the Republican-controlled New York Senate
- 37-21 vote in the Democratic-controlled Oregon House
The bill was approved this year by unanimous bipartisan House committee votes in both Georgia and Missouri.
The National Popular Vote bill has been enacted into law in 11 states possessing 165 electoral votes. It will become effective when enacted by states with 105 more electoral votes. The bill has previously passed one chamber in 12 states with 96 electoral votes.
The bill currently on Governor Cuomo's desk (S5478) would make the New York Legislature's ratification of National Popular Vote permanent. The legislature passed this bill earlier this year. In 2014, the legislature passed a bill ratifying National Popular Vote that expires in 2018.
The National Popular Vote bill retains the Electoral College and state control of elections.
For more information, visit www.NationalPopularVote.com or watch one of our short videos explaining different aspects of the bill.
Thank you,
David and the team at Demand Progress
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