| Posted: | December 3, 2012 10:31 AM |
| From: | Senator Dominic Pileggi |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Legislation to Distribute Electoral Votes Proportionately |
SENATE
BILL No. 538
Session of 2013
INTRODUCED BY PILEGGI, SCARNATI, WARD, ALLOWAY, MENSCH, EICHELBERGER, RAFFERTY, FOLMER, ERICKSON, GREENLEAF, TOMLINSON, BROWNE AND YAW, FEBRUARY 21, 2013
AN ACT
Amending
the
act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), entitled "An act concerning elections, including
general, municipal, special and
primary elections, the nomination of candidates, primary and election expenses and
election contests; creating and
defining membership of county boards of elections; imposing duties upon the Secretary of the
Commonwealth, courts, county boards
of elections, county commissioners; imposing
penalties
for violation of the act, and codifying, revising
and consolidating the laws
relating thereto; and repealing
certain acts and parts of acts relating to elections,"
further
providing for election of presidential
electors, for meeting of electors and duties and for filling of vacancies existing in presidential
electors.
The
General
Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hereby
enacts as follows:
Section
1.
Sections 1501, 1502 and 1503 of the act of June
3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), known as the
Pennsylvania Election Code, are
amended to read:
Section 1501. Election of Presidential
Electors.--(a) At the
general
election to be held in the year 1940, and every
fourth year thereafter, there shall be
elected by the qualified electors of
the Commonwealth, persons to be known as electors of President and Vice-President of the
United States, and referred to
in
this act as presidential electors, equal in number to the whole number of senators and
representatives to which this State may
be
entitled in the Congress of the United States.
(b) The number of presidential
electors to be allocated to each nominee for the Office of
President of the United States shall be calculated as follows:
(1) The nominee for the Office of President
of the United States who wins the
plurality of the Statewide popular vote shall
be
awarded two presidential electors.
(2) The remaining presidential electors
shall be divided among nominees for
President of the United States by multiplying
the number of remaining presidential electors by the percentage of the Statewide popular vote received by
a nominee for President of the United
States and rounding up to the nearest whole
number,
subject to the following:
(i) If the total number of presidential
electors allocated to all candidates
is greater than the number of available electors,
the
number of presidential electors allocated to the nominee with the smallest percentage of
the Statewide popular vote shall be
reduced by one.
(ii) If necessary, the process in
subclause (i) shall be repeated,
starting
with the nominee for President of the United States who finished next to last
in the Statewide vote and ending with the nominee for
President who finished second in the Statewide vote.
Section
1502.
Meeting of Electors; Duties.--(a) The electors
chosen, as aforesaid, shall
assemble at the seat of government of
this Commonwealth, at 12 o'clock noon of the day which is, or may be, directed by the
Congress of the United States, and
shall then and there perform the duties enjoined upon them by the Constitution and laws of
the United States.
b) Each presidential elector shall
cast his ballot in accordance
with
the allocation established in section 1501(b).
Section
1503.
Filling of Vacancies Existing in Presidential
Electors.--If any such presidential
elector shall die, or for any cause
fail to attend at the seat of government at the time appointed by law, the presidential
electors present,
who are of the same political party as such deceased or absent
presidential elector, shall proceed to choose viva voce a person
of the same political party as such
deceased or absent elector, to fill the vacancy
occasioned
thereby, and immediately after such choice the
name of the person so chosen shall be
transmitted by the presiding officer
of the college to the Governor, who shall forthwith
cause
notice in writing to be given to such person of
his election; and the person so elected
(and not the person in whose place he
shall have been chosen) shall be an elector and
shall, with the other electors, perform the duties enjoined on
them.
Republicans have a secret plan to win back the Presidency: rig the Electoral College.
In states President Obama won fairly like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, Republicans are plotting to steal the election, using tactics like awarding electoral votes based on Congressional Districts, instead of the popular vote. Why? Because they spent the last two years gerrymandering these districts to unfairly favor Republicans.
If they’d done this before last year’s election, we’d have President Romney right now even though he lost by almost 5 million votes.
Pennsylvania Republicans are moving fast. They return to session on Monday looking to pass an election-rigging bill that – if active in 2012 – would have awarded eight of the state’s 20 electoral votes to Mitt Romney.
The Presidency isn’t won by the candidate who gets the most votes – we learned that the hard way in 2000. It’s decided by who gets to a total of 270 electoral votes.
That’s why this bill in Pennsylvania should matter to you, even if you live in another state.
Republicans have launched a coordinated national effort to get bills like this passed in Democratic-leaning states, especially in states where Republicans have consolidated their control by gerrymandering Congressional Districts. It’s shameful and underhanded, but it’s also a potentially effective strategy for gaining power – if we don’t stop it now.
When asked if this plan was really just about making it easier for Republicans to win the Presidency, the Republican strategist behind the effort replied: “That could be a byproduct.”
We have to stop Pennsylvania Republicans now, and send a signal to Republicans in other states that election-rigging will not fly in Pennsylvania or in any state.
Together we can protect the ballot box and stop the Republicans’ secret plan. But we need you to stand with us.
Thank you,
Lis Smith
Democratic Governors
Association