Washington, DC City Council Passes National Popular Vote Plan

District Council Gives Voters in Our Nation’s Capitol a Stronger Voice In Electing the President

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The District of Columbia Council voted to enact National Popular Vote legislation today, moving the Nation’s Capitol a step closer to awarding it’s three electoral votes to the candidate who wins the most popular votes in all fifty states and the District of Columbia. The legislation will now go before Mayor Fenty, who will have ten days to sign the bill.

“Our state-based plan to elect the President by National Popular Vote enjoys consistent support from across the country”

“The purpose of our bill is to ensure the candidate who wins the most popular votes in all fifty states and the District of Columbia is guaranteed the presidency and that every vote throughout the country, in every election, is courted by the Presidential candidates,” said John Koza, Chair of National Popular Vote. “We’re pleased the District Council is siding with a majority of Washington, DC voters, and the nation as a whole, in opting to join the National Popular Vote compact.”

Koza was referring to recent polling numbers where voters in the District of Columbia (76%), Idaho (77%), Nebraska (74%), South Dakota (75%) and Kentucky (80%) favor the National Popular Vote plan over current winner-take-all rules (i.e. awarding all of a state’s electoral votes to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in each state). Voters feel marginalized by the current system because it causes Presidential candidates to ignore two-thirds of the states and focus exclusively on just fifteen competitive “battleground” states. For complete polling data visit www.nationalpopularvote.com.

“Our state-based plan to elect the President by National Popular Vote enjoys consistent support from across the country,” continued Koza. “Republicans, Democrats and Independents favor National Popular Vote over the current system by a large margin and across gender, age and ideological lines. The American people want every vote to be equal and they want the candidate for President, who gets the most votes, to win the election.”

In the recent 52–7 New York State Senate vote, Republicans supported the bill by a 22–5 margin (with 3 not voting) and Democrats supported it by a 30–2 margin.

Under the National Popular Vote bill, all the electoral votes from the enacting states will be awarded to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all fifty states (and DC). The bill will take effect only when enacted by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes – that is enough electoral votes to elect a President (270 0f 538).

The bill has been enacted by states possessing 73 electoral votes – 27 percent of the 270 necessary to activate the law (Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Washington). Washington, DC became the 31^st legislative body to pass the National Popular Vote legislation. The bill has now passed 31 legislative chambers in twenty-one jurisdictions (Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington).

For a one-page description of National Popular Vote, please visit http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/pages/explanation.php - exp_1page