BOSTON (December 11, 2008)
Immediately prior to the meeting of the Electoral College, supporters of a
National Popular Vote held a press conference to call for implementation of a
new method of selecting a President.
Legislation establishing a popular vote for President has been enacted into law
in four states—Maryland, New
Jersey, Illinois, and Hawaii. It passed
both chambers of the Massachusetts
legislature near the end of formal sessions in July but was one “enactment”
vote shy of going to the desk of Governor Deval Patrick. Governor Patrick
supports the bill.
The National Popular Vote legislation uses the existing constitutional
authority of the states to select Presidential electors and another clause in
the U.S. Constitution that enables states to enter into legally enforceable
joint agreements to elect the President. Under the National Popular Vote
compact, states agree to give all of their electoral votes to the winner of the
national popular vote in all 50 states, thereby guaranteeing the popular vote
winner a supermajority in the Electoral College. The agreement would take
effect only when identical legislation has been enacted by states collectively
possessing a majority of the Electoral College— that is 270 of the 538
electoral votes, roughly equal to half of the population, and most likely
around 25 states. The four states which have opted into the compact
represent 50 electoral votes.
Advocates released campaign advertising
spending and Presidential candidate visit data to augment their call for
reform.
What: Press Conference
Who:
Governor Michael Dukakis, Rep. Charley Murphy,
Rep. Garrett Bradley, Rep. Alice Peisch, Rep. Alice Wolf, Rep. Tom
Sannicandro, Sen. Robert O’Leary, other
members, Pam Wilmot of Common Cause, Janet Domenitz of MASSPIRG,
Luisa Pena of Mass Vote
Date:
Monday, December 15, 2008
