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Michigan Must Join The National Popular Vote Compact

Posted by leftoflansing on

This system not working:

Every presidential election is coming down to just five or six states, leaving millions upon millions of voters feeling left-out of the process.

As Axios reported, hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent on just these six states, which includes Michigan. While that’s a boon for some of the local tv, radio, and online businesses, it’s not the best way to select a president.

Last week, I riled up some right-wingers when I said Michigan must join-up with the National Popular Vote Compact, in which Michigan’s electoral votes would be awarded to whomever wins the popular vote in presidential elections:

The right-wing responses I received from that post only solidified my stance even more as to why Michigan must join in such a compact if we are to save our country.

If such a compact becomes large enough to secure 270 electoral votes, then it becomes official. And then, the popular vote wins-out.

The true voice of the people will be heard.

As Denise Hartsough and Paula Bowman from the League of Women Voters of Michigan perfectly stated last year in Bridge Magazine:

Under our current system, the candidate who lost the national popular vote has become president in two of the last six elections. It almost happened again in 2004 and 2020, when a small number of votes could have reversed the result of the election and denied millions of voters across our country their voice.

Our current system also means that presidential candidates have no reason to pay attention to the issues of concern for voters in states where the outcome is a foregone conclusion. That’s wrong because every vote should matter equally.

The current system is unsustainable.

Every vote should matter equally.

As of right now, it doesn’t.

Trump lost by a millions of votes in both elections, but was able to win one of them while barely losing the second one, all thanks to the antiquated electoral college system.

Again, despite losing by millions of votes, Trump and his supporters’ brand of White Christian Nationalism/Authoritarianism was able to turn this country in a severe right-wing direction.

And I would say a fascist direction.

Last month, Maine became the 17th state to join the compact.

Progressive Democratic State Representative Carrie Rheinegans sponsored two bills last year, which would make Michigan the 18th state to award its electoral vote to the national vote winner.

It passed a House committee vote, but not much has been done to advance the bill since.

If Michigan becomes part of the National Popular Vote compact, we’d be one step closer to actually giving power to the people on selecting who will lead this country.

Instead of five or six states deciding our fate, now many other states which have been ignored will get a chance to be part of the process.

California, New York, Texas, Florida, Illinois, and others will now be important in presidential elections.

States like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin will also still play key roles as well.

It’s a popular idea, as some 65% of Americans say the presidential candidate with the most nationwide should win.

And there was once a time that some conservatives were on-board with this idea.

Sadly, but not surprisingly, that idea has eroded with many right-wingers as Michigan Republicans are standing against such a move.

A radical minority should not have final say over who runs this country.

It should be a majority who get that say.

Michigan must be part of the movement to put the actual balance of power back into the peoples’ hands.

—Pat

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