- Election Day « PA State Sen. Pileggi Bill on
Distribution of Electoral Votes
TEXT OF MEMO from state Sen. Dominic Pileggi, The Majority Leader
MEMORANDUM
Posted: | December 3, 2012 10:31 AM |
From: | Senator Dominic Pileggi |
To: | All Senate members |
Subject: | Legislation to Distribute Electoral Votes Proportionately |
The United States Constitution gives each state a number of electors to the Electoral College equal to the combined total of its Senate membership and House of Representatives delegation. Presidential electors are chosen by the voters.
Currently, Pennsylvania uses a winner-take-all system of awarding electoral votes. My legislation would allocate electoral votes proportionately.
Under the proportional system, two of Pennsylvania’s 20 electors are chosen on a statewide, at-large basis (representing the two senatorial electors). The remaining 18 electors are chosen based on the percentage of the statewide vote earned by each candidate (rounded to the thousandths). For example, President Obama won 52.088% of the vote in November. Under this system, he would have received 12 of Pennsylvania’s 20 electors (the two statewide electors plus 10 of the 18 remaining electors, which would be distributed proportionately).
This advantage of this system is clear: It much more accurately reflects the will of the voters in our state.
This legislation is not the same as Senate Bill 1282 of the 2011-12 legislative session. That legislation would have allocated electors based on a district system.
Ed. Note: Pillegi introduced SB 538 on Feb. 21, 2013.
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.
EMAIL from DGA Action
March 8, 2013
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