House Supports Connecticut Joining National Popular Vote Compact; Bill Moves To Senate

Legislators in the House voted Thursday to join an interstate compact that would ensure the state’s electoral votes go to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote, provided enough other states join the agreement. (Hartford Courant file photo)

By Sandra Gomez-Aceves and Christopher Keating Contact Reporters (sgomezaceves@courant.com)

April 26, 2018 (Courant.com)

The narrow 77-73 vote was mostly along party lines. Three conservative Democrats joined with 70 Republicans against the measure. Only one Republican, Rep. Livvy Floren of Greenwich, voted in favor.

The issue has been highly controversial after close elections in which the eventual president, including Republicans Donald Trump and George W. Bush, were elected under the Electoral College without winning the national popular vote.

Democrats strongly supported the move, while some Republicans expressed skepticism and questioned the constitutionality of changing the system in a fundamental way without approval from Congress. Lawmakers said they had not received a legal opinion from the state attorney general on the issue.

House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz said he refused to allow a vote on the legislation last year because he did not want it attributed to the election of any one president following an election year. Trump was elected in 2016 with 306 of 538 electoral votes although his opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton, defeated him in the popular vote by roughly 2.8 million.

“But the basic underlying premise of one person, one vote is something I do believe in,” Aresimowicz told reporters. “It’s important. We should do it. It’s a premise of our democracy.”

The bill now goes to the evenly divided Senate, where Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney of New Haven has publicly expressed his support. The measure also must be signed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who favors the change.

If the measure is signed into law, Connecticut would become the 11th state to join the compact.

“This is an important step in restoring Connecticut’s role in presidential elections,’’ said Barry Fadem, president of National Popular Vote. “We are pleased that the House has approved the National Popular Vote bill. After working on the bill for 11 years, we look forward to a successful Senate vote and signature by Gov. Malloy. That will move us closer to assuring that every vote cast for president in Connecticut will matter in every presidential election.”

During a debate that lasted nearly four hours, lawmakers on both sides offered passionate arguments.

“Four out of the last 45 presidents in the United States were elected by the electoral college,’’ without winning the national popular vote, said Rep. Laura Devlin, a Fairfield Republican who urged rejection of the bill. “I recognize two of those elections were in recent past, but that is no reason to discard the very safeguards that our Founding Fathers put in place.’’

The 10 states that currently have signed on to the interstate compact — including neighboring states Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island — have 165 electoral votes. The compact would not take effect until enough states join and cumulatively possess 270 electoral college votes, a majority of the total. Republicans said that many of the states that have favored the idea are “blue’’ or Democratic-leaning states.

Rep. Daniel Fox, a Stamford Democrat and a key proponent of the measure, said the compact would not violate the U.S. Constitution because it would not eliminate the Electoral College. Upon questioning, Fox said that the U.S. Supreme Court has not ruled on the issue.

“We could make a profound change that would enhance confidence, participation, excitement of a presidential election in small and large states alike,” Fox said.

Rep. Matthew Lesser, a Middletown Democrat who has pushed for the bill for the past seven years, said presidential candidates often avoid Connecticut because it has only seven electoral votes and is not known as a swing state.

“Connecticut issues … those issues get ignored,’’ said Lesser. “I won’t lie. I didn’t like the outcome of the 2016 election. I didn’t support Donald Trump. … There are others who say this is feel-good legislation. But this is maybe the most important issue that is in front of the state of Connecticut. … Our western world is in a crisis of democratic legitimacy.’’

Rep. David Labriola, an Oxford Republican, said there is no reason to change the current process.

“This is an act of political theater, artificial gimmick,’’ Labriola said. “This is something that is not necessary, is not constitutional.’’

This year, Connecticut and Oregon were the states predicted to have the greatest potential to join the national popular vote interstate compact, according to National Popular Vote Inc. Each state has seven electoral votes.

“For too long, a handful of ‘purple’ states have decided who wins the presidency,” said James Glassman, a former Connecticut resident who serves on the board for the nonprofit Making Every Vote Count. “The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact puts an end to that inequitable system and returns the power of the presidential election to the hands of the American people, where it truly belongs.”

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House Supports Connecticut Joining National Popular Vote Compact; Bill Moves To Senate

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