Tag: legislature

National Popular Vote.

Call your legislators! The following are excerpts from our Legislative Reports that the League of Women Voters of Oregon produces each week and their website.

Thanks to all who responded to the NPV Action Alert.

Please keep the pressure on legislators to vote yes on SB 870. We are seeing nationwide momentum for election reform, which includes an acknowledgement of the flaws in our Electoral College system. It’s especially important to provide Oregon’s Republican legislators with facts (LINK to Answers to Common Questions about National Popular Vote) to counter the partisan myths about NPV.

Here’s a sampling of NPV news from around the country:

• Delaware, 3 electoral votes. On March 7, the NPV bill passed the Delaware Senate on a bipartisan vote and is now headed to the House for likely passage. The governor has indicated he will sign it. This just happened.
• New Mexico, 5 electoral votes. We await news from where the bill sits in the Senate Rules Committee after passage in the House.
• Maine, 4 electoral votes. There are high hopes for as the legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee recently voted 6-3 to endorse NPV on a party line vote.
• Colorado, 9 electoral votes. The NPV bill awaits the governor’s signature . Opponents have threatened to put a popular referendum on the ballot to attempt a reversal.

Eleven Democratic-leaning states and the District of Columbia already have voted to enter the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. Democrat-controlled Colorado will soon join the list, giving the compact 181 of the 270 electoral college votes needed to elect the president.

In Oregon, SB 870, the Senate version of the National Popular Vote Bill, was introduced on February 25 with an unprecedented 40 sponsors and 8 chief sponsors. This is the same bill that has been blocked by Senate leadership after passage in the House four times in recent sessions. However, we are very hopeful that this year will be different.

NPV supporters have just been told that Senate President Courtney and Senator Ginny Burdick are finally willing to allow a Senate vote on the NPV bill this session. It is important that legislators hear from as many constituents as possible that support for NPV is high. Please call or email your state legislators as soon as possible to urge support for SB 870.

Check the National Popular Vote website for the latest updates.

Call your legislators!