Peg Gillard: Believe You Matter

BREAKING: HOLY SMOKES! Democrats now control enough states to effectively abolish the Electoral College through the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. Republicans did NOT have this on their bingo cards... Under the Constitution, states control their electoral votes and are allowed to decide how they are allocated during presidential elections. Currently, almost every state gives its votes to whoever wins the state. In practice, the current system means that a candidate can win the national popular vote, but lose the election because small states like Wyoming exert undue influence on the outcome. That state has 3 electoral votes with a population of just 577,000 people. California has 54 electoral votes and a population of 39.5 million people. So a vote in Wyoming is essentially 3.8 times as valuable as one in California. Since 1992, Democrats have won the popular vote seven out of nine times. Under the NPV, states that join agree to give their electoral votes to whoever wins the national popular vote, not just their own state. So a state could go red on the map, but if the Democrat wins the national vote, they still get that state's votes. And vice versa of course. The crucial mechanism is that the compact doesn't trigger until the member states have a combined power of at least 270 electoral votes, the number needed to win the White House. So far, 18 states plus D.C. have joined, totaling 222 electoral votes. We only need 48 more. Now is the chance to pass this measure in every state possible. Democrats won both houses of the legislature in Wisconsin for the first time in 18 years (10 electoral votes). We won the Pennsylvania state Senate for the first time since 1993 (19 votes). We now have a trifecta in Michigan (15 votes). And we won the governor’s race in Nevada (6 votes). 10 + 19 + 15 + 6 = 50. 222 + 50 = 272. And if we hold our lead in the Arizona Senate, that number could climb as high as 283, more than enough to trigger the compact. In addition to removing an imbalance in our system that favors Republicans, this novel approach would fundamentally change how candidates run their presidential campaigns. Currently, they are incentivized to ignore most of the country. If you live in a “safe” state, red or blue, your vote for President is basically decided before you cast it. Campaigns spend their time and money in a handful of swing states while the rest of us watch from the sidelines. If the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is adopted, they'll have reason to hit every state because they're aiming to win the largest swath of the country as a whole, not just certain states. States have until July 20, 2028 to join the compact in time for the next presidential election. We can fix our democracy. The time is now. Please ❤️ and share if you support this idea!