The bill (S.5478/A.6044) modifies legislation signed by Governor Cuomo in 2014 that added New York to an interstate agreement in which member states commit to award their electoral votes for president to the candidate that receives a majority of the national popular vote. The original legislation required that New York be removed from the compact at the end of 2018 if the agreement had not been adopted nationally. This new measure removed this expiration date and keeps New York on the list of states supporting the National Popular Vote indefinitely.
“This action will help ensure every vote is treated equally and places New York at the forefront of the battle for fairer elections and strengthen our democracy,” Governor Cuomo said. “Making the national popular vote a binding one will enable all voices to be heard and encourage candidates to appeal to voters in all states.”
By signing on to the National Popular Vote Compact, New York pledges to award its 29 electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote in ALL 50 States plus the District of Columbia, but only to take effect once enough other states have passed identical legislation to comprise a majority of the Electoral Colleges 538 votes. The compact currently contains 165 of the necessary 270 electoral votes (61 percent).
A federal Constitutional amendment is not required to effect this change, as Article II, Section 1 of the United States Constitution provides states the plenary power to award electoral votes in any manner they choose. Currently, like 47 other states, New York uses the winner-take-all method in which the winner of the popular vote in New York State receives all of its electors. This method was used by only 3 states in 1789.
The National Popular Vote legislation adheres to the basic principles of fairness in elections. Under the current winner-take-all system, Presidential candidates are able to ignore reliably Republican and Democrat states, like New York, and focus all of their attention and resources on a select group of battleground states. Therefore, candidates have no reason to focus on the many issues that matter to millions of New Yorkers across the state. The current system artificially divides the country into red, blue, and swing states. New York is a victim of this system despite ranking 4th in the country with over 13 million eligible voters, New York ranked dead last in Presidential campaign spending.
The compact has now been enacted through legislation in 10 states: California, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, as well as Washington D.C.
A petition currently making the rounds online is pushing to get enough states on board to add enough states to equal another 105 electoral votes prior to Dec. 19, when the electoral college meets to formally elect Donald Trump to the presidency. However, even if enough states were to sign on, which is highly unlikely in just over a month, it’s unlikely that new legislation from new states would take effect until Jan. 1 — after the electoral college votes.
