Oregon House Passes National Popular Vote Compact

(Salem) — The Oregon House of Representatives voted today to join the fight to ensure that every vote is counted equally by passing the National Popular Vote compact.

House Bill 2927, which passed the House by a vote of 34 to 23, was co-chief sponsored by Rep. Alissa Keny-Guyer (D-Portland), Rep. Dan Rayfield (D-Corvallis), Rep. Brian Clem (D-Salem) and Sen. Brian Boquist (R-Dallas).

"Oregon deserves a voice in who becomes president," Rep. Keny-Guyer said. "The bill ensures that every vote, in every state, will matter in every presidential election."

Currently, Oregon awards its electoral college votes to the winner of the popular vote in Oregon. This bill would award electoral college votes to the national popular vote winner. Five times in the history of the United States the winner of the presidency has not won the popular vote. It has happened twice since the 2000 presidential election.

The inequity of the electoral college system gives some votes more weight than others in electing a president. For instance, Oregon has a population of 4 million people and receives seven electoral votes. Wyoming has a population of 586,000 and receives three electoral votes. This means that Oregon has one electoral vote per 571,000 residents while Wyoming receives one electoral vote per 195,000 residents.

"The electoral college has proven itself to be outdated and fundamentally unfair," Rep. Rayfield said. "It makes no sense that a vote for president in Wyoming is worth nearly three times as much as a vote in Oregon."

During the 2004 presidential election, a shift of just 59,393 votes in Ohio would have been enough to award the electoral college victory to John Kerry in spite of a nearly three million vote lead by President George W. Bush in the national popular vote.

The bill also seeks to ensure that candidates for President of the United States actually campaign throughout the whole United States. During the 2016 election, candidates concentrated over two thirds of their campaign visits and ad money in just 6 closely divided "battleground" states (Ohio, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Michigan), and 94% in just 12 states.

"It is important if someone wants to represent the entire United States, they should have to campaign for every vote in every state – not just those votes in a handful of states," Rep. Clem said. "Ultimately, this bill is about fairness within our democracy and ensuring that we meet our one voice, one vote standard."

The bill now moves to the Oregon Senate for consideration.