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Rep.Raymond, Richard Peņa
Rep. Raymond Files HB 1498 - National Popular Vote Bill
by: Rep. Raymond, Richard Peņa
02/22/2011~Bill makes every vote count & puts Texas in play in Presidential Elections~
AUSTIN--Rep. Richard Peña Raymond (Laredo) filed HB 1498, a bill that would help change Presidential elections to assure that the winner of the national popular vote would be elected President. Under the proposed legislation, Texas would enter into an agreement with other states to exercise its rights under the US Constitution to assign all of Texas’ presidential electors to the candidate who wins the national popular vote in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia.
Currently, Texas is one of 48 states that uses the winner take all approach – meaning that the presidential candidate who receives the most votes in Texas wins all of the state's electors, regardless of the national popular vote. This flawed system encourages both Presidential nominees to skip the Lone Star State and campaign instead in a handful of swing states.
“Under the current system, presidential candidates of both parties have long treated Texas as an ATM state, showing up only to raising money but going to other states like Ohio and Florida to campaign with the people and ask for votes" said Rep. Raymond. “Texas leaders alike should want to move from a spectator state to a starting line-up state – this bill would do just that,” he added.
In the 2008 Presidential election, over 98% of all campaign events and spending took place in only 15 states – Texas was not included. Texas could play a pivotal role in determining the next President under the national popular vote bill as Texas has the second largest population in the country and is likely to cast the second highest number of votes for President.
Under Article II of the U.S. Constitution, our Founding Fathers gave states the exclusive power to specify the manner of conducting presidential elections and the ability to determine the distribution of their state’s presidential electors. Under the National Popular Vote bill, all of the state's electoral votes would be awarded to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The bill would take effect only when enacted, in identical form, by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes—that is, enough electoral votes to elect a President (270 of 538).
“The new census numbers confirm what we already knew – Texas is growing at an incredible rate with an increasingly diverse population. Now is the time to change the old way of electing the president and force candidates to actually listen to Texans of all political persuasions,” said Rep. Raymond.
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