To: The Pennsylvania State House, The Pennsylvania State Senate, and Governor Tom Wolf
Pennsylvania - Join the National Popular Vote Compact
The Pennsylvania General Assembly should enact legislation requiring PA to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. As of October 2020, it has been enacted into law in 16 jurisdictions possessing 196 electoral votes, including 4 small states (DE, HI, RI, VT), 8 medium-sized states (CO, CT, MD, MA, NJ, NM, OR, WA), 3 big states (CA, IL, NY), and the District of Columbia.
Why is this important?
The way we elect the President is broken. Five of our 46 Presidents have won the Electoral College without winning the nation-wide vote aka divergent election (in 2016, 2000, 1888, 1876, and 1824). Not every vote is equal across the country. Here in PA, we have 20 Electors representing nearly 13 million residents; that's over 600,000 PA residents per Elector. In Wyoming, they have 3 Electors representing under 600,000 residents or less than 200,000 WY residents per Elector. That means it takes more than 3 PA residents to equal the voting power of 1 WY resident. Shouldn't every American vote be equal?
Under National Popular Vote, every vote is equal and every vote counts no matter where you live or what political party you endorse. US voter turnout numbers are some of the lowest in the world. It's not a surprise since 48 states use a winner-take-all system. If you are a Republican living in California, why bother voting. Same is true for a Democrat living in Texas. Under NPV, every vote counts! This can only improve voter turnout.
In 2020, all of the 212 general-election campaign events were in just 17 states, meaning that 33 states and the District of Columbia did not receive any events at all. Nebraska, Virginia, and Indiana hosted one event each. Pennsylvania received 47 general-election campaign events -- the most of any state and 22% of the total. The Presidency is the only office that is designed to represent all Americans. Yet, it routinely becomes the office of the swing states, not the country as a whole.
NPVIC would force candidates to campaign nationally, addressing the needs of every American.
Bottom-line, the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide. NPVIC would ensure that every vote, in every state, will matter in every Presidential election.
Under National Popular Vote, every vote is equal and every vote counts no matter where you live or what political party you endorse. US voter turnout numbers are some of the lowest in the world. It's not a surprise since 48 states use a winner-take-all system. If you are a Republican living in California, why bother voting. Same is true for a Democrat living in Texas. Under NPV, every vote counts! This can only improve voter turnout.
In 2020, all of the 212 general-election campaign events were in just 17 states, meaning that 33 states and the District of Columbia did not receive any events at all. Nebraska, Virginia, and Indiana hosted one event each. Pennsylvania received 47 general-election campaign events -- the most of any state and 22% of the total. The Presidency is the only office that is designed to represent all Americans. Yet, it routinely becomes the office of the swing states, not the country as a whole.
NPVIC would force candidates to campaign nationally, addressing the needs of every American.
Bottom-line, the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide. NPVIC would ensure that every vote, in every state, will matter in every Presidential election.