To: Sheldon Silver, Speaker of the New York State Assembly
The National Popular Vote Deserves a Vote in New York State!
Speaker Silver,
We the undersigned urge you to put the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact up for a vote in the New York State Assembly this legislative session. We ask this so that New Yorkers can know our votes will count as much as any other American's in the next presidential election.
We the undersigned urge you to put the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact up for a vote in the New York State Assembly this legislative session. We ask this so that New Yorkers can know our votes will count as much as any other American's in the next presidential election.
Why is this important?
The use of the electoral college for electing the President of the United States should not last another election. Because of this laughably outdated system, the candidate who receives the most votes can lose the election. This has already happened twice in American history and once in our lifetimes.
If that weren't enough, the current state-by-state system is also weighted against states like New York that have the misfortune to have a predictable majority. While the concerns of people from sharply divided “swing states” like Iowa receive lavish attention from presidential hopefuls, the concerns of New Yorkers get virtually ignored on the campaign trail, except when the candidates drop by to pick up their big money contributions. In the last two months of the 2012 presidential election, the presidential and vice presidential candidates of both parties did not even visit New York once.
The battleground state of Ohio got 73 visits.
We need to replace the state-by-state system of elections with a national popular vote. It was thought that doing this would require a constitutional amendment at the federal level. However, all that is required is for states representing 270 electoral votes to agree to commit their presidential electors to whoever wins the popular vote. This proposal is called the “National Popular Vote Interstate Compact,” and it has already been voted into law by a host of other states, from Maryland to California, representing 132 electoral votes. Here's the link: http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/.
New York should join them and put the project past the halfway point.
This bill has passed the State Senate twice in the last two years with large, bipartisan majorities and odds are, if it was voted on in the State Assembly, it would pass. But it has never been brought to a vote in the State Assembly, most likely due to the reluctance of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Speaker Silver needs to allow the legislation to be introduced for an up or down vote, so that New Yorkers can have a more equal voice in choosing our next President.
You don't need to wait four years to let your voice be heard. Sign on now! And tell your friends about this exciting opportunity to make our votes count.
If that weren't enough, the current state-by-state system is also weighted against states like New York that have the misfortune to have a predictable majority. While the concerns of people from sharply divided “swing states” like Iowa receive lavish attention from presidential hopefuls, the concerns of New Yorkers get virtually ignored on the campaign trail, except when the candidates drop by to pick up their big money contributions. In the last two months of the 2012 presidential election, the presidential and vice presidential candidates of both parties did not even visit New York once.
The battleground state of Ohio got 73 visits.
We need to replace the state-by-state system of elections with a national popular vote. It was thought that doing this would require a constitutional amendment at the federal level. However, all that is required is for states representing 270 electoral votes to agree to commit their presidential electors to whoever wins the popular vote. This proposal is called the “National Popular Vote Interstate Compact,” and it has already been voted into law by a host of other states, from Maryland to California, representing 132 electoral votes. Here's the link: http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/.
New York should join them and put the project past the halfway point.
This bill has passed the State Senate twice in the last two years with large, bipartisan majorities and odds are, if it was voted on in the State Assembly, it would pass. But it has never been brought to a vote in the State Assembly, most likely due to the reluctance of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Speaker Silver needs to allow the legislation to be introduced for an up or down vote, so that New Yorkers can have a more equal voice in choosing our next President.
You don't need to wait four years to let your voice be heard. Sign on now! And tell your friends about this exciting opportunity to make our votes count.