| ALERT |
Contact the Missouri House Elections Committee -- NO on HB 1719
April 16, 2012
Dear Friends,
The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on the National Popular Vote legislation this Tuesday, April 17 at 8:30 a.m. Please call members of the committee and your state representative. Tell them that you are OPPOSED to HB1719, the National Popular Vote legislation.
Contact information for the House Elections Committee is here:
Tony.Dugger@house.mo.gov, Sue.Entlicher@house.mo.gov, Mike.Cierpiot@house.mo.gov, Pat.Conway@house.mo.gov, Stanley.Cox@house.mo.gov, Joe.FallertJr@house.mo.gov, Don.Gosen@house.mo.gov, Myron.Neth@house.mo.gov, Stacey.Newman@house.mo.gov, Don.Wells@house.mo.gov
Tony Dugger, Chair, District 144 573-751-2205
Sue Entlicher, Vice Chair, District 133 573-751-1347
Mike Cierpiot, District 56 573-751-0907
Pat Conway, District 27 573-751-9755
Stanley Cox, District 118 573-751-9774
Joe Fallert, District 104 573-751-7735
Don Gosen, District 84 573-751-1247
Myron Neth, District 34 573-751-1218
Stacey Newman, District 73 573-751-0100
Don Wells, District 147 573-751-1490
If you plan to attend the hearing, please contact:
Missouri Eagle Forum
Janet Engelbach, Legislative Director
636-479-3506 or 314-708-0094
HB1719 would require Missouri to join an interstate compact, as proposed by the National Popular Vote organization. This compact would require Missouri to give all its presidential electors to the winner of the national popular vote, instead of the winner of Missouri’s state vote. If enough states agree to the plan, the Electoral College will be effectively eliminated.
HB1719 must be stopped. It is important to make your voice heard before this dangerous bill becomes law.
NPV is a bad idea for two reasons:
First, the Electoral College provides many benefits to Americans. It affords special protections to the citizens of smaller states. Without the Electoral College, Missouri voters can expect to live in the shadow of big cities such as Los Angeles and New York in each and every presidential election.
Second, even assuming the Electoral College needed to be eliminated, this legislation is not the way to do it. It is an end-run around the constitutional amendment process, and it will create many logistical difficulties. These issues will haunt us in election years and cause much litigation and confusion. For instance, this legislation would allow any of the following situations:
- A President can be elected by ANY plurality: 15, 20 or 25 percent of the vote is enough. NPV does not provide for run-offs, nor does it require candidates to meet a certain threshold.
- The margin between two candidates could be very close, yet Missouri could find itself unable to participate in a recount.
- Missouri could be forced to award its 10 electors to a presidential candidate who was not on its ballot.
- Other states might use recount standards that differ from Missouri’s. They might thus cause election totals to tilt in favor of their candidate, as opposed to Missouri’s.
- Missouri could be forced to award its 10 electors to a candidate who was overwhelmingly rejected by Missouri voters.
- NPV has been enacted in 8 states plus D.C. It has been supported by legislators who have often spent too little time understanding and researching the logistical ramifications of enacting it. Don’t let Missouri become the 9th state to endorse this crazy idea. States such as Missouri uniquely benefit from the Electoral College.
Phyllis Schlafly has also written extensively on the issue and you can find her writings here:
The bill that has been proposed in Missouri can be found here:
Thank you for your help!