Second UNM C-SVED Panel Discusses Presidential Electoral College Versus National Popular Vote

September 29, 2011 by Democracy for N...

The UNM Center for the Study of Voting, Elections and Democracy (C-SVED) held its second of three Citizen Panel meetings yesterday in Santa Fe to discuss and compare the current Electoral College system with a new approach, the National Popular Vote Initiative. Guests at Wednesday’s meeting included the New Mexico Secretary of State, Dianna Duran, Senators Rod Adair and Peter Wirth, and State Legislators Nate Gentry and David Doyle. In addition to these guests, Citizen Panel members, including County Clerks from four New Mexico counties and multiple citizens and citizen groups, grappled with the idea of changing the way we vote for president to a national popular vote.

"We have brought Democrats and Republicans together to discuss this important issue,” said Prof. Lonna Atkeson, director of C-SVED.  "This is not a partisan issue, but one that affects all citizens."

Representatives of the National Popular Vote Initiative (NPVI) participated in the Citizen Panel discussion, arguing that New Mexico should join eight other states and the District of Columbia, in adopting legislation that would create a multi-state compact.

According to the C-SVED, yesterday’s Citizen Panel discussion focused on the creation of the multi-state compact, the members of which would award their Electoral College votes to the presidential candidate who received the most popular votes nationally. The Electoral College would remain intact under the proposed compact, but would change the Electoral College from an institution that reflects the voters’ state-by-state choices (or, in the case of Maine and Nebraska, district-wide choices) into a body that reflects the voters’ nationwide choice.

Specifically, the proposed compact would require that each member state award its electoral votes to the presidential candidate who received the largest number of popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Eight states and the District of Columbia have adopted such legislation (Vermont, Maryland, Washington, Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts, California and Hawaii), which represents 49% of the electoral votes necessary to elect the president.

At the completion of this process, the Citizen Panel will summarize its findings and publish a report which will be presented to Secretary of State Diana Duran, members the New Mexico Legislature and to Governor Susana Martinez. The final Citizen Panel meeting is scheduled for Las Cruces in November, time and loca­tion TBA.

Videos of the Panel’s first and second meetings, as well as other related materials, are available at: www.unm.edu/~atkeson/center/csved.html.

Direct questions to Professor Lonna Atkeson (phone: (505)-277-7592, email: atkeson [at] unm [dot] edu).