On January 9, the Illinois House concurred in a Senate amendment to the National Popular Vote Plan bill, HB 1685. Therefore, the bill has passed the legislature. Illinois legislative officials frequently take up to 30 days after a bill has passed to send it to the Governor.
New Jersey has also passed this and Governor Corzine is expected to sign the bill.
another Unconstitutional bill passed by our state government.Vote out anyone who voted in favor of this bill
This is not unconstitutional. Again, the Constitution gives states the power to allocate their electoral votes as they see fit. Interstate compacts are also constitutional if they receive endorsement/approval from Congress. Referencing a Supreme Court case, the creators of the NPV plan state that approval by Congress of the NPV legislation for DC’s electoral votes, or a bill in support of the compact would by sufficient to establish it’s legality.
Charles –
Read your Constitution. Not only are interstate compacts explicitly recognized in the Constitution
but in providing for the election of the president by what we now call the Electoral College, the Constitution specifies that each state legislature may appoint electors in whatever manner they may choose:
Article II Section I:
“Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress”
So if states decide to appoint their electors based on national popular vote totals, there is nothing at all unconstitutional about that.
As an Independent from Idaho, it greatly disturbs me that my vote counts for virtually nothing in the national elections, while the same 12-15 “battleground” states get all the attention of the two parties. No candidate ever comes here to court my vote, no one addresses issues relevant to Idaho, because they know that my state’s electoral votes will always go “red.” I want Democrat and Republican candidates alike to worry about who I’m going to vote for, and who other Idaho voters are going to vote for. This compact is a step in that direction.