Tweet It was my pleasure to spend my morning in Augusta at Maine’s State Capitol complex. I not only met a great bi-partisan group of state legislators, but also bumped into NPV’s own Chris Pearson. A member of National Popular Vote‘s board of directors, Pearson is a former one-term Vermont state representative. A Progressive...
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Tweet Even my short stay in the Newark Airport was a reminder how different parts of America can be … well, different. New Jersey is distinct from Washington State and Massachusetts, the states on either end of my flights this morning. Think about just how vast and diverse is our nation, our United States....
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Tweet Last year, in addition to our educational activities in Washington State, Save Our States visited Nevada and was assisted allies in Oregon and Colorado as well. While NPV was signed into law in Washington, it stalled in the other three states as legislators began asking questions and constituents made their voices heard. So...
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Tweet Wisconsin has made it onto NPV’s list of targeted states. Dave Zweifel’s Madison.com article, “Using popular vote to elect president is the way to go,” parrots one of the National Popular Vote organization’s most often-used (and faulty) arguments: that because the Electoral College motivates candidates to campaign in some states (“swing states”) more...
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Tweet Dr. John Koza, creator and chairman of National Popular Vote, is a pioneer in his field—not political science but computer science. Koza designs computers that he hopes will in turn design their own inventions without “being encumbered by preconceptions that limit human problem solving….” While a graduate student, Koza created a board game...
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Tweet About a month ago, I debated the Electoral College and NPV with two Western Washington University political science professors. The complete series of YouTube videos from the two-hour event in Bellingham, Washington, are below. The professors had, in my opinion, little regard for the Constitution, Federalism, or history. I’ve written and spoken about...
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Tweet “Swing states” do the whole country a favor. They are undecided because their population is more politically balanced than other states. A successful candidate has to bridge political differences and represent the interests of as many different groups as possible. The candidate who can win over the swing states has probably figured out...
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Tweet Apparently the Connecticut legislature has a habit of bending the rules. For example: changing your vote after the tally has been taken. I thought a card laid was a card played; apparently not in the Nutmeg State. Historically, this practice rarely made the difference in whether a law passed or failed. But it...
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Tweet The Seattle Times and the Spokesman Review have both reported Idaho as one of Dr. John Koza’s next NPV targets. The idea of a national popular vote appeals to some people. It sounds simple: the candidate with the most votes becomes president. Hawaii, New Jersey, Maryland, Illinois, and most recently Washington have signed...
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Tweet The Massachusetts bill to “reform” (i.e. effectively abolish) the Electoral College and replace it with a national popular vote passed both chambers in the last session but failed to make it to the governor’s office. Five states have passed the legislation. Yet a growing number of legislators are having a change of heart,...
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Tweet National Popular Vote is pushing legislation onto the agendas of 45 state legislatures in 2010. Five have already signed on the dotted line. NPV prides itself on support from numerous legislators and an overwhelming majority of the voters they poll. Yet they seem, well, let’s say factually challenged. Last February, the Arkansas House...
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Tweet NPV has made North Carolina one of its targets for 2010. Yet North Carolina is a great example of the weakness of one of NPV’s key arguments. NPV points out that presidential candidates spend most of their time and resources in “battleground states.” That’s true. But what is often ignored is that states...
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