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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Mark Cohen |
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Cohen to introduce bill to use popular vote when electing president
HARRISBURG, Feb. 2 – State Rep. Mark Cohen, D-Phila, will reintroduce legislation that would have Pennsylvania join a multi-state compact to ensure that the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote is elected president.
Cohen’s bill would have Pennsylvania commit its Electoral College votes to the candidate who wins the national popular vote. Under the current system, Pennsylvania’s electors, as in most states, are committed to voting for the candidate who wins the state's popular vote.
The measure has been introduced in 47 states and has already been enacted in four states. If enough states pass the legislation and join the compact, the national popular vote winner would be assured of the presidency without having to amend the constitution to eliminate the Electoral College. Cohen said 78 percent of respondents agreed with that concept in a poll of 800 Pennsylvanians taken in December 2008.
The lawmaker said the current Electoral College method for choosing the president is flawed because it can result in a candidate winning the presidency without winning the national popular vote. That's because most states' electors are committed to casting their ballots for the candidate who the wins the most votes in their state. This allows candidates who win key large states to collect enough Electoral College votes to win the presidency, even if they don't win the national popular vote.
"The Electoral College system permits a candidate to win the presidency without winning the most popular votes nationwide," Cohen said. "Incredibly, four of the nation's 56 presidential elections have had the 'wrong winner.' This is a failure rate of one in 14."
The lawmaker pointed out that a shift in a handful of votes in one or two states would have elected the opposite party's candidate in five of the last 12 presidential elections. For example, a shift of 60,000 votes in Ohio in 2004 would have elected John Kerry, even though President Bush was ahead by 3.5 million votes nationwide.
Cohen said the current system also reduces voter turnout. In the last election, voter turnout in "battleground" states – key states with many electoral votes that candidates visit often -- was 67 percent, while turnout in "spectator" states was 61 percent.
More information about the legislation is available on Cohen's Web site at www.pahouse.com/Cohen.
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