AUGUSTA – The ACLU of Maine today urged lawmakers to support LD 511, which would allow Maine to participate in the National Popular Vote compact. The compact provides that state election officials in all states participating in the plan would award their Electoral College votes to the presidential candidate who receives the largest number of popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
“The ACLU of Maine supports this proposal because it advances two fundamental principles of our nation’s democracy – ensuring that the candidate with the most votes becomes president and furthering the principle of 'one person, one vote,'" said Oamshri Amarasingham, ACLU of Maine public policy counsel, in testimony submitted to the Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs.
The compact will not go into effect until enacted by states collectively possessing a majority of the electoral vote, or at least 270 of the 538 electoral votes. According to NationalPopularVote.com, the compact has thus far been enacted by states possessing 132 electoral votes, or 49 percent of the electoral votes needed to activate it.
The compact would eliminate the possibility that a candidate who received the most popular votes, but did not receive the requisite 270 Electoral College votes needed to win, could lose the election. This has happened four times in American history: in 1824 (Adams-Jackson), 1876 (Hayes-Tilden), 1888 (Harrison-Cleveland), and 2000 (Bush-Gore).
“By ensuring that each vote cast has an equal impact on the outcome of the presidential election, National Popular Vote gives each citizen equal power in the election, regardless of the state in which the voter lives,” testified Amarasingham. “Instead of voters in a few states deciding the outcome, candidates will need to speak to – and listen to – all citizens throughout the country equally.”
March 4, 2013
