LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS®
OF PENNSYLVANIA
226 Forster Street, Harrisburg, PA 17102-3220
717.234.1576
Making Democracy Work®
Grassroots leadership since 1920
March 5, 2013
To: Senate State Government Committee
From: Olivia Thorne, President, League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania
Re: SB 538 TO PROVIDE FOR PROPORTIONAL ALLOCATION OF PENNSYLVANIA’S ELECTORAL VOTES
The League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania opposes SB538. It would allocate all but two of the Commonwealth’s
Electoral Votes in proportion to the number of votes cast for each candidate for United States President. The bill’s chief
sponsor, Senator Dominic Pileggi, is quoted as saying: “This is a proposal that is not party specific or partisan in any way,
but just an attempt to have the popular vote reflected in the electoral college vote.” To make government truly representative
we believe every vote should count equally. However, under the current Electoral College system, some votes count more
than others. While the League believes the existing system is unfair and should be changed, SB 538 will not solve the
problem. It could make it worse. Furthermore it risks making Pennsylvania totally irrelevant to presidential campaigns.
After all, if the election was close and the likely outcome became 11 to 9, (18 votes evenly divided plus 2 for the statewide
winner) the Commonwealth’s 2-vote margin would be less important than Delaware’s three winner-take-all electoral votes.
What is wrong with the proportional allocation system in SB538?
SB 538 fails to address the problems with the Electoral College winner-take-all system. It does not ensure that every vote
counts equally. This is because the Electoral College is made up of people not numbers. Since no one vote can be divided,
the votes would have to be rounded off to the nearest round number. Furthermore, even if every state adopted a proportional
allocation system, there is no assurance that the election outcome will reflect the popular vote. According to an analysis by
the Center for Voting and Democracy, the probability that no presidential candidate would receive a majority of the Elector
College is increased in any election where a strong third party candidate denies either major party candidate at least fifty
percent of the electoral votes. As a result, it would send the election of a President to the House of Representatives where
each state, regardless of population, would receive only one vote. This is even more contrary to the one-person-one-vote
principle than the Electoral College system.
While the issues addressed in SB 538 may appear to address presidential elections, SB 538 also has implications for the
Commonwealth. Under the U.S. Constitution, the states have exclusive and complete power to allocate their electoral votes.
They may change their state laws concerning the awarding of their electoral votes at any time. This system can become
highly partisan as each state can arbitrarily make changes in how its electoral votes are awarded in each presidential election.
This risk can become reality when state government is under the control of one party. The dominant party can literally test
the direction of the wind and change course accordingly. What could be more partisan? In an effort to gain dominance in
presidential elections, this proposed process would raise the stakes and the role of outside, special interest money in elections
for governors and state legislatures. This is especially true of Pennsylvania that currently has no limits on the size of
campaign contributions in state elections. Presidential politics would, in such a scenario, overshadow the concerns and
priorities unique to citizens of each state.
According to a Pileggi spokesman, the issue raised by the introduction of SB538 “…warrants additional debate and
conversation…” We urge that the “debate and conversation” include consideration of Pennsylvania joining the National
Popular Vote Compact between the states. The Compact would guarantee the presidency to the candidate who wins the most
popular votes nationwide. Polls show that over 70 percent of voters support electing the president by national popular vote
including 78 percent of Pennsylvania voters!
What is the National Popular Vote Compact?
Since 1970, the League has testified and lobbied for legislation to amend the U.S. Constitution to replace the Electoral
College with direct election of the President and Vice-President by national popular vote. We further support including a
provision for a national runoff election in the event no candidate receives 40 percent of the vote. The National Popular Vote
Compact is an alternative that does not require the lengthy and difficult process needed to amend the Constitution.
Unfortunately, repeated attempts to pass this legislation in Congress have not been successful.
This is how it works. States that join the Compact pledge to award their electoral votes to the overall winner of the national
popular vote regardless of who won the popular vote in their state. The Compact would take effect only if, by July 20 of a
presidential election year, it is enacted in identical form, by enough states to make up a majority of the electoral votes to elect
a President (270 of 538). States wishing to join or withdraw from the compact after July 20 would not be able to implement
that withdrawal until after January 20 of the following year. The compact would terminate in the event that the Electoral
College is abolished. In the extremely unlikely event of an exact tie in the national popular vote totals, each member state
would award its electoral votes to the statewide winner as is currently done now in 48 states. To date, enough states have
joined the compact to make up 49 percent of the 270 votes needed for the compact to take effect.
Why Pennsylvania should join the National Popular Vote Compact
The advantages of joining the National Popular Vote Compact are clear. The Compact ensures that the candidate who
receives the most votes in the national election is elected President. It ensures that every state, whether large or small, and
every vote, including the vote of every Pennsylvania voter, is equally important in the presidential election
By all means, let us have a conversation about how Pennsylvania allocates its electoral votes. That conversation should
include consideration of the National Popular Vote.