February 2024 – Update
Two Perspectives on Why States Pass the National Popular Vote
The National Popular Vote bill makes every vote equal regardless of geography, political leaning, or swing state status. Republican legislators in sixteen jurisdictions have supported passage in their respective states for they understand that NPV evens the playing field. With NPV in place, everyone’s vote, in all 50 states, contributes to the tabulation of the winner of the popular vote.
Consider the alternative: with state winner-take-all laws, for example, all of a Blue state’s electors are awarded to the winner in that state thus nullifying the votes of the people who voted Republican. In 2020, New Yorkers pulled the lever for Trump 2 million times and, in California, Trump amassed 6 million votes. Eight million voters in these two states were disenfranchised.
New York State Case Study
New York is a state commonly thought of as leaning Blue. Standing the myth that NPV is only supported by Democrats on its head, the National Popular Vote bill was introduced there in 2007 by Republicans. Final passage was in 2014, when 2/3 of each party supported the measure in both the Senate and Assembly.
The bill’s sponsor, New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. (R) stated in 2006:
“To ensure the popular election of the President is (sic) a creative and innovative way to attain this goal. New York State, the Empire State should take a leadership role in energizing our democracy.”
What are the similarities between New York and Florida? When the bill was introduced in 2006, New York was the third-largest state in the country (Florida now is); Republicans dominated the NY Senate (as they currently do in Florida). A survey showed that 79% of New York voters supported the popular election of the president (Floridians support NPV by 68% as of 2017). New York had twenty-nine electoral votes (Florida has 30). The bill was introduced every year from 2007 to 2014 until it passed (Florida legislators have introduced the bill for the past 7 years).
California State Case Study
Why would the largest state in the Union, with fifty-five electors, want to count all votes equally?
Many partisan legislators believe that only Blue states will support the National Popular Vote movement because they think it appeals only to liberal voters. But, if that were true, why would those states that reliably vote Blue give voice to the millions of Republican voters in their states that are not currently counted? California’s fifty-five Electors reliably vote Blue, negating the 6 million Republicans (4 of 10 voters) who cast ballots for the GOP candidate. With the National Popular Vote bill in place, those Republican votes will count in the national total.
One answer by Assemblyman Jerry Hill, sponsor of the NPV bill, said, “For too long, presidential candidates have ignored California and our issues while pandering exclusively to the battleground states.”
As Florida continues to become more Red, its status as a swing state will diminish and all the campaign spending and events hosted here might go to Texas or Georgia as they become purple.
To schedule a Zoom or in-person meeting to learn more about NPV email, NPVFL1@gmail.com
Floridians for National Popular Vote
League | District Chair | Email Address
Brevard: Space Coast, Sabrina Taylor, sabrinat993@gmail.com
Broward County, Denise Elliott, denise.lwvbc@gmail.com
Collier County, Suzanne Low, suzannelow12@gmail.com
Hillsborough County, Elaine Holmes & Shirley Arcuri, teholmes1@gmail.com, arcuri.sc@gmail.com
Lee County, Jan Lonsdale, lonsdajk@GMAIL.com
Leon County: Tallahassee, Sabrina Hartley, sabrina.hartley878@yahoo.com
Manatee County, Alice Newlon, anewlon@yahoo.com
Martin County, Larry Pius, pius.lawrencej@gmail.com
North Pinellas County, Sarah Peacock, skpeacock08@gmail.com
Orange County, Anne Coppenhaver & Louise Thompson, ccoppenhaver@me.com, louisefelice356@gmail.com
Osceola County, Samid Sohl, sam@urbanave.co
Palm Beach County, Dan Lishansky, danlish@comcast.net
Pasco County, Christine Bright, bhemm72@gmail.com
Sarasota County, Deb Mazzaferro, npvfl1@gmail.com
Seminole County, Valerie Schultz, ind_well@bellsouth.net
St. Petersburg Area (Pinellas County), Marty Shapiro, mshapiro48@gmail.com
Upper Keys (Monroe County), Linda Kaplan, lk@lindakaplan.com
Villages/ Tri-County, Jeannie Hamilton & Helen Kelly, jeannie@jeannierealtor.com, helenkelly2009@gmail.com