Electoral college or peoples vote?

The U.S. Constitution says “Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors.” The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly characterized the authority of the states over the manner of awarding their electoral votes as “plenary” and “exclusive.”

The constitutional wording does not encourage, discourage, require, or prohibit the use of any particular method for awarding the state’s electoral votes.

A national popular vote for President could replace the winner-take-all rule (awarding all of a state’s electoral votes to the candidate who gets the most votes inside the state), that is strictly a matter of state law. The winner-take-all rule was not the choice of the Founding Fathers, as indicated by the fact that the winner-take-all rule was used by only 3 states in the nation’s first presidential election in 1789. The fact that Maine and Nebraska currently award electoral votes by congressional district is a reminder that the Constitution left the matter of awarding electoral votes to the states. A federal constitutional amendment is not needed to change state laws.

The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC). 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). When the bill comes into effect, all the electoral votes from those states would be awarded to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).

The bill would make every vote politically relevant in a presidential election. It would make every vote.

The National Popular Vote bill has been approved by 17 legislative chambers (one house in Colorado, Arkansas, Maine, North Carolina, and Washington, and two houses in Maryland, Illinois, Hawaii, California, and Vermont) - large and small states. It has been enacted into law in Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, and Maryland. These large and small states have 50 (19%) of the 270 electoral votes needed to bring this legislation into effect.

To be involved in the National Popular Vote bill effort . . .

You can check the status of the bill in your state at http://www.NationalPopularVote.com/pages/statesactivity.php If it’s still in play in your state, let your legislator(s) know what you think. If you need help to identify and/or contact your state representatives, senators, and/or governor about National Popular Vote, you can search by your zip code using online sites such as http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home

Sign up to get email updates - http://www.NationalPopularVote.com/pages/getemailupdates.php

Tell a friend- http://www.NationalPopularVote.com/pages/tellafriend.php

Help get the word out and show your support. Distribute literature at political, civic, or other meeting, convention, or conference.
Post on discussion groups. Write letters to editors, OpEds, and/or blog. Please include a link to the National Popular Vote web site by including something like “See http://www.NationalPopularVote.com”

Up-to-date information and materials are at http://www.NationalPopularVote.com/pages/explanation.php