Lucas, sign if you agree: It's time we abolish the Electoral College
and elect Presidents by national popular vote.
On November 8, the American people spoke clearly, and chose Hillary Clinton
for President.
As of this writing, Clinton leads the popular vote
by roughly 20,000 votes, with 92% counted. Further, her lead will likely to grow, with most of
the remaining votes coming from blue states
California,
Oregon and
Washington.
However, because Clinton's support was geographically concentrated,
Donald Trump will win the Electoral College and become President of the
United States.
This comes only sixteen years after Al Gore won the popular vote but did
not become President of the United States, in a similar affront to democracy.
It is long past time that we stopped using the Electoral College to choose
our Presidents, and started using the national popular vote instead. Every
vote should count equally. Every state should be a swing state.
Sign the petition: End the Electoral College. Elect Presidents by national
popular vote.
There is a realistic path to making an end-run around the Electoral College
in time for the 2020 election. This is because we don't need a constitutional
amendment to stop using the Electoral College. We only need
the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact:
The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is an agreement among several U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award all their respective electoral votes to whichever presidential candidate wins the overall popular vote in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The compact is designed to ensure that the candidate who wins the most popular votes is elected president, and it will come into effect only when it will guarantee that outcome.[2][3] As of 2016, it has been joined by ten states and the District of Columbia; their 165 combined electoral votes amount to 30.7% of the total Electoral College vote, and 61.1% of the 270 votes needed for it to have legal force.
If states and territories totaling at least 270 electoral votes pass laws
joining the National Popular Vote Compact, then the next presidential
election will be determined by the winner of the national popular vote.
We are already up to 165.
If we can make eliminating the Electoral College a national issue broadly
adopted by elected Democrats, and if Democrats can do well at the state
level in the 2018 midterm elections--which is realistic in the event of
an unpopular President Trump--then in 2019 we can pass laws that would
make the 2020 presidential election determined by the popular vote.
(Since you might be wondering, according to the compact, states do not
change the way they determine their electoral votes until enough states
join that the 270 electoral vote threshold is reached. So, for example,
California will only start awarding its electoral votes to the national
popular vote winner instead of the state popular vote winner once states
equalling 270 electoral votes have decided to do the same.)
So this is something we can actually pull off. It starts by telling all
elected Democrats that you have had enough of the Electoral College, and
that whenever possible they must pass laws to have their states join the
National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.
Add your name: End the Electoral College and choose our Presidents by national
popular vote.
Keep fighting,
Chris Bowers
Executive Campaign Director, Daily Kos