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Monday, December 29, 2008
Rep. Mimi Stewart to Intro National Popular Vote Bill; 76% of New Mexicans Support Ditching Present Electoral College System
In a recent survey (pdf) of 800 New Mexico voters by Public Policy Polling, 76% of New Mexicans favored a national popular vote to elect the President of the United States. The National Popular Vote proposal would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states. New Mexicans are clearly in agreement that the electoral college, as currently configured, is no longer a fair mechanism for electing a president -- if it ever was. And one of our best progressive lawmakers is set to do something about it.
A National Popular Vote bill sponsored by Rep. Mimi Stewart (right) will be introduced during the upcoming 60-day legislative session, which begins on January 20, 2009.
“It’s time for New Mexico to support a fair system that values every vote equally,” Stewart said. “The current winner-take-all system allows for a candidate to win the Presidency without winning the most votes in all 50 states. Recent elections proved that the Electoral College system requires massive reform. I firmly believe that the National Popular Vote proposal is the right choice for our state.”
Would All States Benefit? One of the most common criticisms of a switch to the popular vote in determining presidential winners reflects the perception that smaller and less populated states might lose some of the clout they have in the current electoral college system. I asked Rep. Stewart about this aspect of her bill, and she doesn't buy it.
"The argument that smaller states like New Mexico are at a disadvantage under this proposal is a false one," Stewart responded. "Our current system focuses on targeted swing states, limiting the participation of the vast majority of states with no guarantee of which states will be targeted from one election cycle to the next. The adoption of the National Popular Vote proposal is critical for all states, largely or sparsely populated, because it guarantees that every vote will be valued equally."
NM Poll Results Show Across-the-Board Support: In this month's New Mexico poll, the National Popular Vote proposal received overwhelming support from cross-sections throughout the state -- from Democrats and Republicans, women and men, Hispanics and Anglos, and across all age groups. The poll results also reflect similar trends in a recent national poll and the polls of 25 other states, all of which garnered over 70% public support for the national popular vote.
NM Results - Support National Popular Vote:
Democrat 84%, Republican 64%, Other 68%
Women 84%, Men 66%
White 73%, Hispanic 83%, Other 57%
18-29 yrs 73%, 30-45 yrs 73%, 46-65 yrs 78%, 65+ yrs 76%
What the Bill Would Do: The National Popular Vote bill would take effect only when enacted in identical form by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes—that is, enough electoral votes to elect a President (270 of 538). When the proposal is in effect, all the electoral votes from the states that enacted the bill would be awarded as a bloc to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and District of Columbia).
Progress Across the Nation: The National Popular Vote bill has been enacted by states possessing 50 electoral votes — 19% of the 270 necessary to bring the law into effect. The four states are Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, and New Jersey. The bill has passed 22 state legislative chambers, including one house in Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, and Washington, and both houses in California, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
Popular Vote History: The United States has elected Presidents who haven’t won the national popular vote in four of the nation’s 55 presidential elections (and one in seven of the non-landslide elections). We all recall the 2000 election, when Al Gore won the popular vote but lost to George Bush on the basis of the Electoral College tally (as well as various underhanded acts). And a shift of a few thousand votes in one or two states would have elected the second-place candidate in five of the last 12 elections. A shift of 60,000 votes in Ohio in 2004 would have defeated Bush despite his nationwide lead of 3,500,000 votes.
“In my opinion, having a President elected once who hasn’t won the national popular vote is one time too many,” Stewart concluded. “We must do everything in our power to ensure it never happens again by adopting a fair system that fully empowers the voter to choose the President.”
More Info: The poll (pdf) was conducted on December 16-17, 2008 by Public Policy Polling and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5%. For more information on the National Popular Vote, visit www.nationalpopularvote.com, check out this Wikipedia entry on the movement or see a backgrounder on the national popular vote issue offered by Common Cause.
Technorati tags: Mimi Stewart national popular vote electoral college presidential elections New Mexico New Mexico Legislature
December 29, 2008 at 01:05 PM in Election Reform & Voting, Local Politics, NM Legislature 2009, Public Policy | Permalink
Comments
Here's hoping this will lead to the end of the electoral college.
I notice that Representative Stewart has already pre-filed HB 21, the domestic partnership bill for 2009. Speaker Lujan has designated it as the first bill to be introduced.
On the Senate side, McSorley has filed SB 12, same title. I haven't compared the texts so I don't know if they are identical, but wasn't there something passed last year about trying to NOT introduce duplicate bills in both houses?
Posted by: Ellen Wedum | Dec 30, 2008 1:17:12 AM
Let's get the numbers correct. Seventy-six percent of NEW MEXICANS WHO WERE SURVEYED supported doing away with the electoral college. How many were surveyed out of New Mexico's total population? How skewed was the polling sample? Please don't misrepresent the results as other blogs tend to do.
Posted by: McElder51 | Dec 30, 2008 9:55:29 AM
No kidding McElder. The post quotes the poll and has a link to the results. Why are you confused about that? Polls are what they are - snapshots and everyone knows it. It's not a secret. The fact remains theres widespread support for changing how we elect presidents.
Posted by: JJ | Dec 30, 2008 11:16:35 AM
Let your legislator(s) know what you think. If you need help to identify and/or contact your state representatives, senators, and/or governor about National Popular Vote, you can search by your zip code using online sites such as http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home .
Sign up to get email updates - http://www.NationalPopularVote.com/pages/getemailupdates.php
Help get the word out and show your support.
Tell a friend- http://www.NationalPopularVote.com/pages/tellafriend.php
Distribute literature at political, civic, or other meeting, convention, or conference.
Post on discussion groups.
Write letters to editors, OpEds, and/or blog.
Responses to many common misinformed critiques are at http://nationalpopularvote.com/pages/faq.php
Responses to myths are at
http://nationalpopularvote.com/pages/answers.php
Up-to-date information and materials are at http://www.NationalPopularVote.com/pages/explanation.php
Posted by: susan | Dec 30, 2008 6:10:25 PM
Seriously, this has to be the most obtuse piece of legislation I’ve ever seen proposed in New Mexico. That this would ever, ever, ever be considered in New Mexico is prima facie evidence of the failure of our educational system.
Why, oh why on earth would New Mexico want to surrender its standing in the Electoral College? Not only is this legislation stupid, it is dangerous to the well-being of our state and borderline treasonous.
The STATES elect the president, not the people. I could see why NY, CA or TX would want to get rid of the EC, but never, ever, ever the smaller states. Our influence in DC would evaporate over night. You would be surrendering your right as a New Mexican to influence the presidential election. This bill only serves the interests of the citizens of the larger states at our expense.
For example, NY gets one electoral vote for every 620,000 people. New Mexico gets one for every 385,000. Your vote counts 60% more here and Mimi wants to give that away!!!
Do some research Mimi, and rescind this absurd bill!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Electoral_College
Call your Rep and Senator now to make sure this is never enacted!
Posted by: WAS | Dec 31, 2008 11:24:46 AM
WAS above must be a right wing conservative. He or she agrees with the editorial in today's Albquerque Journal so we know what that means. The Journal editorial board (such that it is) is opposed to almost every single progressive idea proposed, as well as anything where ordinary people get some power.
The only reason New Mexico has gotten any attention of late is the fact that we've been a swing state at a time when elections are tight. Otherwise nobody would care about our measly 5 electoral votes in the scheme of things. Think back. Other than the last couple presidential election cycles, when have we ever seen any candidates or gotten any attention?
The Electoral College system was designed to prohibit the direct election of presidents. Isn't that democratic? It results in candidates campaigning only in "battleground states" so the majority of states are left out of the process. It also can result in the election of a president by a MINORITY of the people. Again, does this jibe with modern democratic principles?
I strongly support Stewart's bill and I hope you'll join me in urging our lawmakers to support it. Let's move out of the 18th century and into the 21st!
Posted by: Popular Vote Supporter | Dec 31, 2008 12:33:41 PM
Representative Sewart you are a good person. I must however respectfully disagree with you. The polling only indicates that our Education system has failed to teach Americans how the EC works.
PVS you did not mention how long you have lived in New Mexico. My experience as a life long resident of New Mexico is quite different than yours. I can remember elders talking about Eisenhower coming to New Mexico. I understand John F Kennedy was here a few times. I remember Bobbie Kennedy coming to our state in a jet he borrowed from his cousin friend Frank. I even remember George Wallace stopping into the Land of Enchantment a few times. Jimmy Cater used his strong relationship with Bruce King to go for our THEN “measly” 4 EC votes. It seems those of us who were exposed to this political activity have a strong appreciation for New Mexico’s place in history every Presidential Election cycle. When I was young we learned the EC in grade school with our own maps we would fill them in as to how we thought the election outcome would be and then compare with the results the day after the election. Did you ever do this ? My close friends and I actually had a strong knowledge of the EC at about age 11. From “HONEST” an old Parker Brothers Game called “Landslide”. We played that game for hours. We could and still can tell you the Electoral votes for every state and DC. If you ever get a chance play this game. It was interesting how after the 2000 election copies of this $4 in 1972 Game sold on Ebay for $70.00. It is interesting to look at how the map has changed since then. This year Michigan was considered a battle ground until the last few weeks of the Election. Back then it was worth 21 EC votes today it is worth 18. Florida back then was worth 17 today over ? … Well YOU tell me . then we will know how much you know the EC. The 2000 Election probably did more for the EC education of Americans than anything in our history. It was amazing to me a person who barley made it past high school had to explain the EC in 2000 to people of very high education. Several of them educators themselves. These people have Masters sometimes double Masters and PHD’s. A few years ago at a major political event the Governor mentioned that New Mexico is always a bell weather state. A highly elected official leaned to me and asked …. What is a bell weather state ? I had to politely whisper what it was . I was taken back that this person my age. Had forgotten our 7th grade lessons, that NM at that time had voted with the winner of the Presidential Election every time since Statehood. Thus making us a Bell Weather state for the Presidential Election and the EC. Mimi, and those of you in that 70 %, I once shared your anti EC feelings. I changed by feelings as I bacame better EC educated.
The EC can be improved through a change to the winner take all EC. If you know your EC you will know Nebraska has an EC vote based on each congressional district. Winner take all for each states 2 Senate EC votes would be alright. Then EC separately each Congressional district. NM 3 would probably lose any visits by the candidates but NM 1 would be a national battle ground district. Even one of Utah’s U S Congressional districts might be a battle ground.
So YES Mimi Stewart . DO keep your proposal on the agenda. That way we can find out just how EC educated our NM Elected officials are. If I am around I will be there .
Posted by: Pro EC | Jan 5, 2009 12:28:44 AM
We've had visits in the past, but not many in any election year.
Republicans like the electoral college because it gives backwards southern states a better chance to have clout. They like to keep the bigger cities and the coasts out of the picture because people tend to be better educated and more sophisticated there.
Posted by: lotty | Jan 12, 2009 11:29:36 PM
