serious question about popular vote

[mvymvy]

11. 3% of U.S. Pop could stop a Constitutional Amendment

To abolish the Electoral College would need a constitutional amendment, and could be stopped by states with as little as 3% of the U.S. population.

The National Popular Vote bill has passed 31 state legislative chambers, in 21 small, medium-small, medium, and large states. The bill has been enacted by 9 jurisdictions possessing 132 electoral votes -- 49% of the 270 necessary to bring the law into effect.

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A survey of 800 New York voters conducted on December 22-23, 2008 showed 79% overall support for a national popular vote for President.
By gender, support was 89% among women and 69% among men.
By age, support was 60% among 18-29 year olds, 74% among 30-45 year olds, 85% among 46-65 year olds, and 82% for those older than 65.
By race, support was 78% among whites (representing 67% of respondents, 78% among African Americans (representing 18% of respondents), 86% among Hispanics (representing 12% of respondents), and 70% among Others (representing 4% of respondents).
Support was 86% among Democrats, 66% among Republicans, 78% among Independence Party members (representing 8% of respondents), 50% among Conservative Party members (representing 3% of respondents), 100% among Working Families Party members (representing 2% of respondents), and 7% among Others (representing 7% of respondents).

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Recent Legislative History in New York:
On June 7, 2011 the Republican-controlled New York Senate passed the National Popular Vote bill (S4208 / AB 489) by a 47–13 margin, with Republicans favoring the bill by 21–11 and Democrats favoring it by 26–2. Republicans endorsed by the Conservative Party favored the bill 17–7. The bill now goes to the New York State Assembly. The bill passed the New York Senate in 2010 when the chamber was controlled by Democrats and has now passed with the chamber controlled by Republicans.
In February 2011, Senator Joseph A. Griffo introduced the National Popular Vote bill (S4208) in the New York Senate.

The National Popular Vote bill in the Assembly is sponsored by Jeffrey Dinowitz, Fred W. Thiele Jr., Sandy Galef, Charles D. Lavine, Brian Kavanagh, Joan L. Millman, Mike Spano, Richard N. Gottfried, Vivian E. Cook, Ellen Jaffee, Steve Englebright, N. Nick Perry, Daniel J. O'Donnell, Amy Paulin, Barbara Lifton, Karim Camara, Annette Robinson, Michele R. Titus, Felix Ortiz, Jose Rivera, Phil Ramos, Inez D. Barron, William F. Boyland, Jr., Alec Brook-Krasny, William Colton, James F. Brennan, Nelson L. Castro, Donna A. Lupardo, Nettie Mayersohn, Linda B. Rosenthal, John J. McEneny, Michelle Schimel, Hakeem Jeffries, Vanessa L. Gibson, Earlene Hooper, Naomi Rivera, Aileen M. Gunther, William B. Magnarelli, Sam Hoyt, Peter Manuel Rivera, David I. Weprin, Eric Stevenson, Mike Miller, Robert Rodriguez, George Latimer, Guillermo Linares, Philip Boyle, Daniel J. Burling, Marcos Crespo, Clifford W. Crouch, Steven Cymbrowitz, Michael G. DenDekker, Janet L. Duprey, Gary Finch, Deborah J. Glick, Stephen Hawley, Carl E. Heastie, Rhoda Jacobs, Rory I. Lancman, George Latimer, Joseph R. Lentol, Peter D. Lopez, William Magee, Alan Maisel, Margaret M. Markey, Grace Meng, Dean Murray, Robert Oaks, Audrey I. Pheffer, Andrew Raia, Teresa R. Sayward, William Scarborough, Robert K. Sweeney, Matthew Titone, Helene E. Weinstein, Harvey Weisenberg, and Kenneth Zebrowski.

On June 7, 2010, the New York Senate passed the National Popular Vote bill (S2286A / A1580B), with over two-thirds of both political parties supporting the bill in a 52-7 roll call. The vote was 22-5 among Senate Republicans (with 3 not voting) and 30-2 among Senate Democrats. The bill now goes to the 150-member Assembly where it has 80 sponsors.

On February 17, 2009, the National Popular Vote bill (S2286A) was introduced in the New York Senate by Senators Kevin S. Parker, Liz Krueger, and George Onorato. The bill currently has a total of 18 sponsoring, also including Senators Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Antoine M. Thompson, Bill Perkins, Diane J. Savino, Eric Adams, Eric Schneiderman, Hiram Monserrate, John L. Sampson, Jose M. Serrano, Neil D. Breslin, Ruth Hassell-Thompson, Shirley L. Huntley, Velmanette Montgomery, William T. Stachowski, and Darrel J. Aubertine.

On December 23, 2008, the National Popular Vote bill was introduced in the New York Assembly for the 2009 session by Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz and others. The amended bill (A1580B) currently has a total 61 sponsors in the Assembly, including Assembly members Adam Clayton Powell IV, Alan Maisel, Anthony S. Seminerio, Felix Ortiz, Fred W. Thiele Jr., Jose R. Peralta, Jose Rivera, Karim Camara, Jeffrey Dinowitz, Keith L.T. Wright, Marc S. Alessi, N. Nick Perry, Phil Ramos, Robert K. Sweeney, Steve Englebright, Steven Cymbrowitz, William F. Boyland, Jr., William Magee, William Scarborough, Adriano Espaillat, Alec Brook-Krasny, Annette Robinson, Aurelia Greene, Brian Kavanagh, Charles D. Lavine, Daniel J. O'Donnell, David Koon, Deborah J. Glick, Grace Meng, Inez D. Barron, James F. Brennan, John J. McEneny, Jonathan L. Bing, Linda B. Rosenthal, Marcus Molinaro, Micah Kellner, Michael G. DenDekker, Mike Spano, Nelson L. Castro, Peter D. Lopez, Richard N. Gottfried, William Colton, Amy Paulin, Audrey I. Pheffer, Barbara Lifton, Donna A. Lupardo, Ellen Jaffee, Ginny Fields, Joan L. Millman, Michele R. Titus, Nettie Mayersohn, Patricia A. Eddington, Sandy Galef, Teresa R. Sayward, Vivian E. Cook, Rhoda Jacobs, Philip Boyle, Joseph R. Lentol, Kenneth Zebrowski, Margaret M. Markey, Janele Hyer-Spencer, Carl E. Heastie, Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr., Martin Malve Dilan, Pedro Espada, Jr., Suzi Oppenheimer, Michelle Schimel, Hakeem Jeffries, Vanessa L. Gibson, Earlene Hooper, Naomi Rivera, David I. Weprin, Rory I. Lancman, Peter D. Lopez, Frank K. Skartados, Matthew Titone, Andrew Hevesi, Aileen M. Gunther, William B. Magnarelli, Al Stirpe, Daniel J. Burling, Clifford W. Crouch, Janet L. Duprey, Dean Murray, Addie J. Russell, and Helene E. Weinstein.

Each legislator certainly understands the bill and how it works. Each is educated on the bill personally, and with the exhaustive information in "Every Vote Equal: A State-Based Plan for Electing the President by National Popular Vote " http://www.every-vote-equal.com/

NationalPopularVote