On March 13, the Maine Senate passed LD 1578, the National Popular Vote Plan bill. It had passed the House on March 5. Maine is the first state to have passed the pact in several years. It is assumed Governor Janet Mills, a Democrat, will sign the bill.
ONE MORE SUBVERSION OF 14-1 AMDT —
TRYING TO HAVE VOTES OUTSIDE A STATE DETERMINE RESULTS INSIDE A STATE
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PR
APPV
TOTSOP
Boo hiss. But it’s still not going anywhere. The plan has fizzled.
Maine actually has the best method for selecting Presidential electors right now. They ought to be promoting what they have instead of NPV.
NPV doesn’t even deal with the problem of when no candidate gets a majority of the popular vote. The method they use now does. Have the lost their minds in Maine? They are retrogressing.
Dipshits who hate Paul LePage are the problem in Maine.
Ladies and gentlemen of Congress,
I stand before you today to address a matter of grave concern, a matter that strikes at the very heart of our constitutional principles and the delicate balance of power enshrined within our nation’s founding documents. I speak of the recent trend among certain states to consider legislation that would allow their state’s electors to effectively give away their electoral college votes to the popular vote of the rest of the nation.
Let us be clear: such actions represent a flagrant violation of the constitutional laws and the fundamental principles of sovereignty upon which our nation was built. The Constitution, the supreme law of the land, clearly outlines the manner in which presidential elections are to be conducted, including the role of the Electoral College. This system was carefully designed by our Founding Fathers to ensure that the voices of all states are heard and respected in the selection of our nation’s highest office.
When a state seeks to circumvent this established process by allowing its electors to disregard the will of its own citizens and instead cast their votes based on the national popular vote, it undermines the very foundation of our democratic republic. It disrupts the balance of power between the states and the federal government, and it diminishes the sovereignty of each individual state.
This proposed legislation, if enacted, would not only violate the constitutional principles of federalism and state sovereignty but would also run afoul of established legal precedent, most notably Marbury v. Madison (1803). In this landmark case, the Supreme Court affirmed the principle of judicial review, declaring that any law repugnant to the Constitution is null and void on its surface.
Just as Chief Justice Marshall famously wrote in Marbury, “It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is.” Likewise, it is the duty of this esteemed body to uphold the integrity of our Constitution and to safeguard the principles of democracy and federalism upon which our nation was founded.
Furthermore, I rise before you today to emphasize not only the violation of our federal Constitution but also the disregard for the state constitutions that uphold the principles of democracy and the inherent rights of the people. In particular, I draw your attention to Section 2 of the Maine State Constitution, a provision that echoes the sentiments of many state constitutions across our nation.
Section 2 of the Maine State Constitution boldly proclaims that “All power is inherent in the people; all free governments are founded in their authority and instituted for their benefit.” It emphasizes that the people possess an “unalienable and indefeasible right to institute government, and to alter, reform, or totally change the same, when their safety and happiness require it.”
This provision underscores the fundamental principle that the government exists to serve the people, deriving its authority from them and operating at their behest. It affirms the sovereignty of the people and their right to shape the course of their governance in pursuit of their safety and happiness.
The proposed legislation, which seeks to allow a state’s electors to allocate their electoral college votes based on the national popular vote rather than the will of the state’s own citizens, directly contravenes this foundational principle. By bypassing the authority of the people within the state and effectively disenfranchising them in favor of a national popular vote, it undermines the very essence of representative democracy.
Moreover, it diminishes the power inherent in the people as articulated in Section 2 of the Maine State Constitution and similar provisions found in state constitutions nationwide. It erodes the people’s right to self-governance and their ability to hold their elected officials accountable for their actions.
In light of these considerations, I implore each of you to recognize the sacred trust placed in us by the people we serve. Let us uphold the principles enshrined in our state and federal constitutions, safeguarding the rights and voices of the people against any encroachment on their sovereignty and their unalienable rights.
Thank you.
So much flowery rhetoric over literally nothing