The National Popular Vote (NPV) is rolling across the U.S. Although the popular vote initiative sounds reasonable on its surface, the devil is in the details. The NCSL (National Conference of State Legislators) website states:
“The National Popular Vote (NPV) movement emerged in late 2006 and has slowly gain some steam since then.
“NPV seeks to ensure that the presidential candidate who wins the most popular votes nationwide is elected president. When a state passes legislation to join the National Popular Vote Compact, it pledges that all of that state’s electoral votes will be given to whichever presidential candidate wins the popular vote nationwide, rather than the candidate who won the vote in just that state.”
In a perfectly wild example, imagine if every single voter in Oregon cast a Democrat vote for the President. Under NPV, after the polls close and the chads are counted and recounted, if a Republican candidate had a majority of votes nationwide, the state’s electors would be required to cast their vote for the Republican, even though not a single soul within the state affirmed that choice.
This is a clear violation of the principle of local control and the consent of the governed. Unfortunately, this twisted logic has some in Oregon feverishly working to be the 16th state to pass an NPV bill (SB 870). It has already passed through the State Senate and House, largely along party-lines and is now on its way to the Governor’s office.
Our nation’s founders wanted to preserve the principles of representation while building in constitutional safeguards for diluting unnecessary concentrations of power.
The constitutional design had the president, or chief executive, elected by both houses of the legislature via their specific electors — the Electoral College. This arrangement created yet another filter on the proxies coming from the House and Senate and created a formidable obstacle to slow the quickened motives of ingenious men.
Additionally, the terms of office for elected positions, House, Senate and President, was purposely staggered across two-, four- and six-year spans with one-third of the Senate being elected every two years. In turn, the states generally dispersed their powers by having them exercised by municipalities, counties, and other local governments — local governance being the preferred choice.
The current NPV tomfoolery would ordain what the progressives falsely call “popular” rule but it is more akin to mob rule where everything is centrally orchestrated.
In the most recent 2016 election, the Electoral College proved to be a legitimate safety net for preserving the will of the people:
1. There are 3,141 counties in the United States. Trump won 3,084 of them. Clinton won 57.
2. There are 62 counties in New York State. Trump won 46 of them. Clinton won 16.
3. Clinton won the popular vote by approx. 1.5 million votes.
4. In the 5 counties that encompass NYC, (Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Richmond & Queens) Clinton received well over 2 million more votes than Trump. (Clinton only won 4 of these counties; Trump won Richmond) Therefore these 5 counties alone, more than accounted for Clinton winning the popular vote of the entire country.
5. These 5 counties comprise 319 square miles. The United States is comprised of 3,797,000 square miles.
6. When you have a country that encompasses almost 4 million square miles of territory, it would be ludicrous to even suggest that the vote of those who inhabit a mere 319 square miles should dictate the outcome of a national election.
Large, densely-populated, cities such as, New York, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, etc. shouldn’t be allowed to usurp the opinions of the rest of the country. The progressive movement toward NPV is a dangerous idea and runs contrary to our founders’ remarkable blueprint for preserving Liberty for the people while tempering the ever-present lust for capricious power.
Thomas Jefferson spoke directly to this in 1798, writing, “In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.”
Finding freedom with-in the chains of our Constitution is what made America great in the first place
Dennis Linthicum of Beatty, is the state senator from SD 28.