VOTE:NO – Died in Committee
Status (overview) of bill:https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2017R1/Measures/Overview/HB2927
Committee assigned to bill: https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2017R1/Committees/SRULES/Overview
Posted on TractTheirVote.org
This bill enacts Interstate Compact for Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote committing Oregon voters to a compact vote.
Personal Choice and Responsibility
America is not a democracy and as a republic it gives weight to smaller populated states like Oregon so we have a say and aren't just dictated to by larger populated states. Voters in Oregon enjoys a 30.9% per capital electoral representation HIGHER THAN voters in New York in the Electoral College system. That would be taken away with a popular vote.
Fiscal Responsibility
An Interstate Compact always has issues, primarily giving up the sovereignty of the state to another authority. Being a small state Oregon will have no real authority. New York was the first to adopt NPVIC and Bloomberg has put a lot of his own money into a national popular vote because he knows the power he will have for his state with a national popular vote.
Limited Government
The votes of 48 states would often be rendered irrelevant by the heavily populated states of California and New York. If you take California out of the 2016 election, Trump wins the popular vote. A National Popular Vote isn't in the best interest for Oregon or any smaller populated state. Oregon would never be better represented by a popular vote and would likely be irrelevant. all together. The Electoral College does not guarantee a majority vote election because it weights smaller populated states (like Oregon) so we have a say and aren't just dictated to by larger populated states. So, the Electoral College has a guarantee much more important for Oregon. It guarantees that the elected president that will govern the country is elected by a vote sufficiently distributed across the country preventing an election being determined by a few states with the largest metropolitan areas.
What’s the buzz?