Blue states band together looking to bypass Electoral College

The Hill ^ | 03/03/19 | Michael Burke

[yesthatjallen]

A plan to circumvent the Electoral College is gaining momentum among blue states after Democrats suffered two crushing defeats in presidential elections over the past two decades.

The plan has been given new impetus after Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) said this week that he will sign a bill to have his state become the 12th state along with the District of Columbia to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.

The states making up the compact, which already includes New York, Illinois and all the New England states except for New Hampshire, would commit to awarding their electoral votes to whoever wins the popular vote nationally, regardless of the results in the Electoral College.

So far, these states, with Colorado, add up to 181 electoral votes, well short of the 270 needed to ascend to the White House.

Advocates are doubtful that enough states can join the compact for it to take effect by 2020, but hold hope of garnering enough support by 2024, as a handful of states like New Mexico also consider the measure, though proponents acknowledge the path to get to 270 will be far from easy.

Colorado state Rep. Emily Sirota (D), one of the sponsors of that state’s legislation, said she sees the compact “as a way to ensure that every vote is counted equally” and force candidates to campaign nationwide instead of targeting a few battleground states that can deliver success in the electoral math.

“If we had presidential candidates campaigning across the country, instead of a handful of swing states, you'd see a lot more participation from across the country and I think that is good and healthy for our electoral process,” Sirota told The Hill.

The renewed push comes after 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton lost the election that year despite winning the popular vote, the second time it has happened since the turn of the century.

The defeat was especially crushing to Democrats after a similar loss suffered by former Vice President Al Gore in 2000.

All states that are now part of the compact voted for Gore in 2000 and Clinton in 2016.

Colorado voted for Clinton last time but picked former President George W. Bush in 2000.

Critics of the Electoral College system have long argued it incentivizes candidates to target swing states with a bounty of electoral votes, while discouraging turnout by voters in states that are reliably red or blue.

Opponents of the current electoral system also say that electing a president through a popular vote could improve how presidents govern in office.

John Koza, the chairman of the National Popular Vote, a group that advocates for the compact, said the Electoral College “distorts” public policy by incentivizing presidents to cater to key swing states while in office, particularly in their first term.

"It's not only unfair that the second place candidate can win, it's also not good for the office of president or the country,” he said.

“When you're sitting in the White House … you say, ‘What states do I have to win and what do I have to do to win them?' That's just not a good way for public policy to be set,” Koza added.

Advocates of the compact are holding up hope that more steps will follow Colorado in joining the compact, which was first introduced in academic research papers as a way to effectively get rid of the electoral college system without going through the daunting process of a constitutional amendment.

The most promising is New Mexico, which has already passed a popular vote bill through one chamber and has a Democratic Governor.

Should it pass, the state would add 5 electoral votes to the compact, bringing the total to 186.

Meanwhile, legislators in 16 states have introduced bills this session seeking to join the compact, according to National Popular Vote.

Of those, Democratically-controlled Delaware, Maine, Nevada and Oregon look the most promising, with a total tally of 20 additional votes that could bring the total to 206 – though even there, the prospects are far from guaranteed.

Oregon state Rep. Diego Hernandez (D), a sponsor of the state’s popular vote bill, said there may not be enough momentum in the current legislative session to pass.

“We have so many big issues we're tackling this session, when it comes to housing and the environment and education and revenue reform, that although the conversation's happening, I'm not sure that it's the top priority in terms of the collective agenda,” Hernandez said.

But the prospect of passage in some of the other 16 states where a popular vote bill has been introduced look far less certain given many have split powers or are deep-red, like South Carolina or Mississippi.

Republicans are mostly opposed to any measure to derail the Electoral College system, seeing as unconstitutional.

Opponents of using the popular vote to elect presidents have long argued it would result in candidates catering to large cities and large states to rack up votes, which tend to have a bigger share of Democratic voters, ignoring smaller or rural areas.

Rose Pugliese, a county commissioner in Colorado, said in a tweet she had petitioned the Secretary of State not to award the state’s votes to the winner of the popular vote, saying such a move “allows California and New York to decide Colorado’s votes for President.”

Nonetheless advocates of the compact remain hopeful.

Koza, the National Popular Vote chairman, said garnering the necessary support by 2020 was “theoretically” possible, but believed it was more likely by 2024.

"You never know how a bandwagon can get rolling,” he said. “So at the moment, I couldn't name states that would get us there in time for 2020, although there's theoretically ways to do it. It seems perfectly plausible that we should get there by 2024."

[onona]

Let’s just party like it’s 1861 again.

Sigh,

Ok, I'll get another M4

[IrishBrigade]

‘California alone would easily manufacture millions of extra votes.’

if CA manufactured not even a single extra vote, it would make no difference whatsoever if the aggregate compact threshold of 270 EV’s is attained...if it is not attained (as I believe it will not for a long time)a billion illegal votes will still net only their current 55 EV’s...

[DrymChaser]

Am I correct in saying that as far as a Presidential election goes, there is NO SUCH THING as a national popular vote? It is purely a media creation.

[rlmorel]

Yes, but that is an IN state mechanism, not a NATIONAL mechanism, which I find much more destructive.

I look at the Presidential elections that happen every four years not as one giant national election, but as 50 separate state elections for President, which provides the buffer against the tyranny of large states against small ones.

[rlmorel]

I agree. And the fact that the Rats are against the Electoral College simply cements that even further.

[david1292]

This is the type of thing that could trigger a civil war. A number of states colluding against the others.

That’s a mess waiting to happen.

[rlmorel]

My favorite for many years has been Eric Allie.

[IrishBrigade]

‘I wonder what would happen if a state passed a law stating that the vote in their state shall be certified only for the purpose of choosing that state’s Electoral College delegation’

those electors are already selected by the time the election id held, by each of the parties...

[shanover]

These a-holes also want to lower the voting age and of course let in a 100 million third world voters. If we do nothing, they will get their way. This country is going to be ripped to shreds.

[rlmorel]

I hear people say that this country is more polarized and divided than it has ever been, and they blame it on President Trump.

I blame it on the Left. They have, through their attempts to force their ideology at the point of a gun on people they disagree with, on everything from verbal expression to Abortion.

It is their actions that cause this chasm.

[tallyhoe]

“Not to worry Tx will soon beVERY BLUE!! Thousands of thousands of invaders have already settled here and ready to vote for the RATS plus the influx of blue communists sickos coming from cali! Az has just about tilted over into the blue toilet water..Tx is next!!”

Your right. And people “on our side” who laugh at this notion, will be shocked when it happens (unless our current course changes....drastically).

One doesn’t need to look further than the following two examples:

1. Where Ted Cruz’s close victory over Beto O’Rourke stands among Texas’ historical election results

“With a loss Tuesday night by about 2.6 percentage points or around 223,000 votes, U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke got closer to toppling an incumbent Republican senator than anyone has in 40 years, which could portend a shifting Texas electorate.”

Then how do you see that the Governor Abbott won big!

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Some states are winner take all Electors. Others split the Electors according to the popular vote in that state.

Suppose a state like Colorado votes for R, but the national popular vote goes for D. Then the Colorado Electors will vote D, completely ignoring the state vote tally and thus disenfranchising all Colorado voters.

If they get enough states to account for 270 Electoral Votes, then the Electoral College system is kaput.

That’s the day that CW II turns hot.

[logician2u]

Should something like this go into effect, look for vote counting fraud as a natural consequence.

Up until now, there was no reason to inflate the numbers since a state's clout in a presidential election is predetermined by the decennial census, not votes for the candidates.

When you consider that big city politicians will pay overtime to have "transients" and "temporary residents" added to their census rolls--because more people means more federal funds--this electing by popular vote plan fits right in with their lust for power.

And it doesn't even require fudging numbers on the census. The machine in many cities will have an incentive to pay everyone with a pulse to vote their way once, twice, as many times as necessary.

But why go to the bother if you have the key to the counting machine?

Without paper ballots as evidence, who will be able to contest the results?

Now, I'm not accusing anyone of cheating before the fact. The temptation to boost the vote count has to be there, however, and it would be the death of our Republic if it could be proven. (Recall that in 1960, candidate R. M. Nixon declined to challenge the totals in two states which had "irregularities," on the grounds that contesting the election of John F. Kennedy might have devastating consequences for the nation.)

It's not a good idea to have the fedgov acting as referee in state elections; however, it may be impossible to certify honest vote counts in a few states unless there's federal oversight. Florida in 2000 comes to mind.

That's only one reason this is a bad idea. Circumventing the US Constitution is a better reason, but we all know there is a good segment of the population who say it is nothing more than a piece of paper, a relic of dead white males. Those types won't be convinced unless they recognize the potential harm this would cause to their socialist agenda.

[Brilliant]

Well there is a silver lining here. It will make a recount largely irrelevant in the blue states.

[Robert DeLong]

The founding fathers established the Electoral College in the Constitution as a compromise between election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens. However, the term “electoral college” does not appear in the Constitution. Article II of the Constitution and the 12th Amendment refer to “electors,” but not to the “electoral college.”

Since the Electoral College process is part of the original design of the U.S. Constitution it would be necessary to pass a Constitutional amendment to change this system.

Note that the 12th Amendment, the expansion of voting rights, and the use of the popular vote in the States as the vehicle for selecting electors has substantially changed the process.

Many different proposals to alter the Presidential election process have been offered over the years, such as direct nation-wide election by the People, but none have been passed by Congress and sent to the States for ratification as a Constitutional amendment. Under the most common method for amending the Constitution, an amendment must be proposed by a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress and ratified by three-fourths of the States.

SOURCE

[wiseprince]

Reptiles should pass bills stating that they will give all electoral votes to the incumbent regardless how the state votes. Let’s see how much the crazies support that

[IrishBrigade]

‘A number of states colluding against the others.’

no one is colluding against anybody; you’re assuming the 270 EV’s are all going to one candidate; states are perfectly free to vote as they wish, and red states can attempt to win the popular vote by turning out more voters...

the real problem here is that the GOP does not appear capable of winning the popular vote...

[griswold3]

US Constitution? You still talking about that old ‘charter of negative liberties”?

[ProtectOurFreedom]

the leftards always bring this up when there’s a sitting GOP president but when Obamatard was golfing for 8 years.

You could not be more wrong. The genesis of this goes back to 2001 after the Al Gore fiasco. Then...

In 2007, National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) legislation was introduced in 42 states. It was passed by at least one legislative chamber in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, North Carolina, Maryland, and Hawaii. Maryland became the first state to join the compact when Governor Martin O'Malley signed it into law on April 10, 2007.

NPVIC legislation has been introduced in all 50 states. As of March 2019, the NPVIC has been adopted by eleven states and the District of Columbia. Together, they have 172 electoral votes, which is 32.0% of the Electoral College and 63.7% of the 270 votes needed to give the compact legal force.

Look at the chart below. Do you recall who was president during almost all the time shown?

[griswold3]

He’ll have to win California and New York to win the popular vote.
Just think if this works out. They’ll never have to hob knob with the little people in flyover country. Win-win (to them)