On March, 13, the Oregon House and Washington State Senate passed National Popular Vote (NPV) legislation, making it the 24th state house to pass the legislation. With bipartisan support, the Oregon housed passed the bill 39-19, including 8 Republicans. These milestones ride in the wake of other recent success in New Mexico, where the State House also voted to pass NPV legislation. NPV is a national effort to enact an interstate compact ensuring that the winner of the popular vote wins the presidency. The compact will go into effect once states totaling 270 electoral votes enact the legislation.
The NPV bill has been introduced in 47 states with a total of 1,246 state legislators endorsing the legislation. Representing nearly a fifth of the necessary electoral votes to implement NPV, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, and New Jersey have already passed the legislation. Recent polls indicate more than 70% of voters support NPV in a full range of states.
[FairVote's Case for NPV]
[National Popular Vote]
[Story in The Oregonian]
March 17 Update! [Colorado House 25th Chamber to Pass NPV]
On March 10, the Rhode Island House of Representatives handily approved two FairVote-backed proposals: a uniform advance voter registration age of 16 (voting 54-10) and a requirement that any vacancy to the U.S. Senate be elected rather than appointed (voting 64-6). Both proposals advance democracy -- and have real chances to go to Rhode Island's governor this year.