Bills have been introduced in both houses of the New York State legislature to amend article 12 of the election law, by adding an agreement among the States to elect the President by a national popular vote. This would effectively circumvent the method of electing a President as designed in our Constitution. Instead of voting as a State delegation, wielding the combined power of its citizens in a single voice, individual votes would be added to national totals.

There are several important reasons why these efforts should be defeated. First, it sharply increases the likelihood that a candidate could win with far less than a majority of the popular vote, since a State's voice will not be represented as a block, but easily splintered into many small parties. Second, it defeats the purpose of the States' check on the power of the Federal Government in that the State role in the process is diminished and the certification of the winner falls in the hands of the Federal Government. Third, it dangerously seeks to nullify the impact of the Constitution, without following the proper legal procedure for amending the Constitution. Fourth, it would certainly force candidates to strategically concentrate their political efforts on the most densely populated areas in any State, with the distinct possibility that the interests of less densely populated areas will be severely under-represented.

For these reasons, we, the undersigned, insist that our lawmakers resist the plan to replace our time-tested method by which every elected United States President has been chosen.