{"id":10419,"date":"2018-11-28T11:17:53","date_gmt":"2018-11-28T19:17:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=10419"},"modified":"2018-11-28T11:17:53","modified_gmt":"2018-11-28T19:17:53","slug":"national-popular-vote-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2018\/11\/28\/national-popular-vote-2\/","title":{"rendered":"National Popular Vote"},"content":{"rendered":"

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NATIONAL POPULAR VOTE\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The\u00a0National Popular Vote\u00a0bill<\/a>\u00a0would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. \u00a0It\u00a0would make\u00a0every\u00a0vote for President equal throughout the United States.\u00a0 It would guarantee that\u00a0every<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0voter in\u00a0every<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0state matters in\u00a0every<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0presidential election.<\/div>\n
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The shortcomings of the current system of electing the President stem from “winner-take-all” laws that have been enacted at the state level. These laws award 100% of a state’s electoral votes to the candidate receiving the most popular votes in each state.<\/div>\n
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Because of these state winner-take-all laws, five of our 45 Presidents (including two of the last three) have come into office without having won the most popular votes nationwide.<\/div>\n
Another problem created by state winner-take-all laws occurs in\u00a0every\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>presidential election, namely that presidential candidates have no reason to campaign in, or pay attention to, voters in states where they are safely ahead or hopelessly behind.<\/div>\n
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In 2016, almost all\u00a0(94%)\u00a0general-election\u00a0campaign events\u00a0and virtually all expenditures\u00a0were in the 12\u00a0closely divided “battleground” states\u00a0(where Trump’s support was in the 43%-51% range).\u00a0 Two-thirds of the\u00a0campaign\u00a0events (273 of 399) were in just 6 states (OH, FL, VA, NC, PA, MI).\u00a0 Almost all small states (12 of 13), almost all medium-sized states (22 of 25), and almost all western states, southern states, and northeastern states were totally ignored.<\/div>\n
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In 2012, 100% of the general-election campaign events and virtually all expenditures were concentrated in the 12 closely divided “battleground” states (where Romney’s support was 45%-51%).\u00a0 Two-thirds of the events (176 of 253) were concentrated in just 4 states (OH, FL, VA, IA).<\/div>\n
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The 2020 campaign\u00a0map<\/a>\u00a0will be similar unless the system is changed.<\/div>\n
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Fortunately, it does not take an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to change these existing state\u00a0winner-take-all laws. \u00a0State winner-take-all laws were enacted by state legislatures under their authority under Article II of the U.S. Constitution:<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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“Each State shall appoint,\u00a0in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct<\/strong><\/em>, a Number of Electors….”<\/div>\n
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These state laws may be changed in the same way as they were originally enacted — namely by action of a state legislature.<\/div>\n
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The winner-take-all method of awarding electoral votes was\u00a0not<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0the Founding Fathers’ choice.\u00a0 It was used by only three states in the nation’s first presidential election in 1789 (and repealed by all three by 1800).\u00a0 Winner-take-all was never debated at the Constitutional Convention or mentioned in the\u00a0Federalist Papers<\/em>. The Founding Fathers were dead for decades before our current state-by-state winner-take-all method of awarding electoral votes became predominant.<\/div>\n
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Under the\u00a0National Popular Vote bill,\u00a0the national popular vote winner will receive all the electoral votes from the enacting states. The bill will take effect when enacted by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes — enough to elect a President (270 of 538).\u00a0\u00a0When the Electoral College meets in mid-December, the national popular vote winner will become President because\u00a0the enacting states will provide him or her with at least 270 electoral votes.\u00a0 Thus, the candidate receiving the most popular votes in all 50 states and DC will always become President under the National Popular Vote bill.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A total of 3,153 state legislators among all 50 states have endorsed the National Popular Vote bill. .<\/div>\n
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OTHER THINGS YOU CAN DO<\/strong><\/div>\n
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