SPRINGFIELD, Ill., April 7, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today signed the National Popular Vote bill into law, moving the nation one big step closer to electing the president by a national popular vote.
The bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and the District of Columbia). The bill would take effect only when enacted by states possessing a majority of the vote of the Electoral College (270 of 538).
There are now 46 electoral votes lined up with the national popular vote: Illinois' 21, Maryland's 10 and New Jersey's 15 -- 1/6 of the 270 electoral votes necessary to trigger a national popular vote.
Governor Blagojevich said,
"This nation is built on the principle 'for the people, by the people.' We
in Illinois are making it clear that we believe every voter has an equal
voice in electing our nation's leaders. As a U.S. Congressman, I
co-sponsored a House Joint Resolution to abolish the Electoral College
and to provide for the direct election of the President and Vice
President. I'm proud Illinois is leading the way by joining this landmark
compact that will help shape our democracy into the future."
The bill has been passed by one-sixth (16) of the nation's state legislative chambers, including in the last few weeks both houses in Hawaii and the Maine and Vermont Senates.
The current system for electing the President in most states is based on the winner-take-all rule. This rule awards all of a state's electoral votes to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in each state. The losing candidate in a state gets nothing.
Under the winner-take-all rule, candidates have no reason to poll, visit, advertise, organize, campaign, or worry about the concerns of voters of states where they are safely ahead or hopelessly behind. This means that voters in two thirds of the states are effectively disenfranchised because presidential candidates concentrate their attention on a small handful of "battleground" states. In 2004, candidates concentrated over two-thirds of their money and campaign visits in just five states; over 80% in nine states; and over 99% of their money in just 16 states. Illinois is the largest state that received no visits by either presidential candidate in the 2004 general election. 70% of the public has long supported nationwide election of the president.
The book Every Vote Equal: A State-Based Plan for Electing the President by National Popular Vote can be read or down-loaded for free from http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/.
Contact: Barry Fadem
925-283-0581
John Koza
650-941-0336
National Popular Vote
