Equality is fundamental to representative democracy. Everyone's vote should be equal when electing the president. Our current Electoral College system, grounded in state law, leads presidential candidates to concentrate their resources on voters in a handful of swing states, relegating the vast majority of the country to spectator status. FairVote advocates for direct election of the president, and has nurtured and supported the National Popular Vote plan to ensure that every vote for president is equally valued no matter where it is cast.
The Massachusetts legislature passed National Popular Vote on July 27, with a 28-9 vote in the Senate and a 116-34 vote in the House. Gov. Deval Patrick has indicated he will sign it into law, which would make Massachusetts the sixth state to enact the law. Their total number of electoral votes (73) is more than 27% of the number necessary to activate the proposal and guarantee election of the winner of the national popular vote winner.
The media took note, with extensive coverage from major outlets such as CNN, FOX, NPR, MSNBC, Politico and The New York Times.
Learn more:
Jules Leconte's post on the FairVote Blog for further detail
Hendrik Hertzberg's blog posts on NPV on July 27 and July 28
When U.S. citizens vote for president and vice president, they are actually electing a slate of their states' "electors" that represent them, and it is those electors' votes for president that actually count. Learn more about the Electoral College from the links below.
The National Popular Vote plan (NPV) is a state-level statute in the form of an interstate compact. It would use the states' powers over the allocation of their presidential electors to award those electors to the winner of the national popular vote, making every vote for president equal.
On July 27, the Massachusetts Senate approved the National Popular Vote plan for president by a 28-9 vote, three days after the final vote of the Massachusetts House passed it 116-34.
