Donald Trump said in 2012: “The Electoral College is a disaster for a democracy” and “a total sham and a travesty.”
Realizing that fact; The Public Citizen, an advocacy group based in Washington, has been supporting “The National Popular Vote Bill, and encouraging citizens to urge their State representatives to vote for this Bill before the Electoral College reconvenes. Therefore; tell your state legislators to pass the National Popular Vote bill guaranteeing that the candidate receiving the most popular votes in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., will become president.
- Five out of our 45 presidents have come into office without receiving the most popular votes nationwide.
State winner-take-all laws are the reason why a candidate can win the presidency without winning the national popular vote. Under these state laws, all of a state’s electoral votes are awarded to the candidate receiving the most popular votes in each separate state. We are in an era of close presidential elections (the average margin in the national popular vote being only 5% since 1988). If these state laws are not changed, there will likely be more presidential elections in which this undemocratic outcome recurs.
These state winner-take-all laws create another problem in every election. The vast majority of voters get ignored because candidates campaign only in a handful of closely divided “battleground” states. Candidates write off states where they are hopelessly behind. They take for granted states where they are safely ahead.
- Did you know?
There were 399 campaign events in the 2016 general election. - Over half (57%) of the events were held in just 4 states (Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Ohio).
- Virtually all (94%) of the events were in just 12 states (containing only 30% of the country’s population).
- Fortunately, the U.S. Constitution empowers state legislatures to change the method of awarding electoral votes without amending the U.S. Constitution. Article II says:
“Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors….” - Existing state winner-take-all laws may be repealed in the same way they were originally enacted — namely by passage of a new state law by the state legislature. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the states have “exclusive” and “plenary” power to choose the method of awarding their electoral votes.
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 three states used winner-take-all in our nation’s first presidential election in 1789 (and all three repealed it by 1800).
Please tell your state legislators to pass the National Popular Vote bill.
- The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the presidency to the candidate receiving the most popular votes in all 50 states and D.C.
It would make every vote equal throughout the United States. It would ensure that every voter, in every state, is politically relevant in every presidential election.
A national popular vote for president is an achievable political goal that can be in place in time for the 2020 election. The bill already has been enacted into law in 11 states possessing 165 electoral votes. It will take effect when enacted by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes — that is, enough to elect a president (270 of 538). Thus, it will take effect when enacted by additional states having 105 electoral votes. The bill has previously passed one chamber in 12 additional states with 96 electoral votes. It was approved earlier this year by unanimous bipartisan committee votes in two states with an additional 26 electoral votes. A total of 2,794 state legislators have endorsed it.
Recently, the National Popular Vote bill received bipartisan support in a:
- 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
Under the National Popular Vote bill, the winner will be the candidate receiving the most popular votes in all 50 states and D.C. When the Electoral College meets in mid-December, the national popular vote winner will receive all of the electoral votes of the enacting states. The national popular vote winner will become president because the enacting states represent at least 270 electoral votes. The Electoral College will thus represent the will of the voters in all 50 states and D.C.
Please tell your state legislators to pass the National Popular Vote bill.
Thank you for taking action today! Thank you Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen for this empowering information! (© 2016 Public Citizen • 1600 20th Street, NW / Washington, D.C. 20009 )
See you at 11am tomorrow. Let’s chat!