Humphrey Event: Direct National Popular Vote in Presidential Elections

Across the 56 presidential elections in U.S. history, there have been four instances in which the winner of the Electoral College vote lost the nationwide popular vote: John Quincy Adams (in 1824 over popular vote winner Andrew Jackson), Rutherford Hayes (in 1876 over Samuel Tilden), Benjamin Harrison (in 1888 over Grover Cleveland), and, of course, George W. Bush (in 2000 over Al Gore).

An event Monday afternoon, May 16th, at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs examines the movement afoot that seeks to implement an electoral system with a direct, nationwide popular vote.

Panelists at the event are Dr. John Koza (pictured above), Chairman of National Popular Vote, and Minnesota Republican State Representative Duane Quam (HD-29A).

(National Popular Vote Inc. is a 501(c)(4) non-profit corporation whose specific purpose is to study, analyze and educate the public regarding its proposal to implement a nationwide popular election of the President of the United States).

The organization states that the national popular vote has been endorsed by 2,110 state legislators across the country and that supportive legislation has passed 31 legislative chambers across 21 jurisdictions in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

From the Humphrey School's Center for the Study of Politics and Governance press release:

Getting to Majority Rule in Presidential Elections

Monday, May 16th, 2011
12-1:15 p.m.
Humphrey Forum, Humphrey School of Public Affairs
301 19th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN

"American presidents are elected by winning a majority in the Electoral College and not by winning majorities. This has produced presidents who have lost the popular vote (as in the 2000 election) or come close (as in 2004).

Reformers are seeking to make sure that winning presidents enjoy the popular and Electoral College majorities. One of the serious efforts is the National Popular Vote bill to effectively replace the Electoral College system with a direct, nationwide vote of the people. Under this bill, all of the state's electoral votes would be awarded to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The bill would take effect only when enacted, in identical form, by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes.

Please join us for a conversation with Dr. John Koza, President of National Popular Vote, and Representative Duane Quam, who will discuss their arguments for and against the National Popular Vote bill. This event will be moderated by Professor Larry Jacobs.

This event is free and open to the public."

Leave a comment

Name

Email Address

URL

Remember personal info?

Comments (You may use HTML tags for style)

Curse of the '4'?

May 22, 2013

Big-name Republicans are not coming out of the woodwork yet to challenge Al Franken in Minnesota's 2014 U.S. Senate race, and there is not much chatter of the GOP picking off one of the five DFL-held U.S. House seats either. Over the last century, Minnesota Republican U.S. House candidates have not fared all that well in cycles ending in '4' - losing seats in five of these cycles (1914, 1924, 1944, 1954, 1974), holding serve in four others (1964, 1984, 1994, 2004), and gaining seats just one time (1934, after redistricting had been delayed one cycle with all nine seats voted at-large in 1932). Perhaps the Republican Party's best chance for a pick up in the Gopher State in 2014 is if 12-term Democrat Collin Peterson retires after nearly a quarter century on Capitol Hill. The 7th CD has the second largest GOP lean in the state.

Seasoned Senators in Wisconsin

May 2, 2013

Of the 15 men and women that have served in the U.S. Senate from Wisconsin since popular vote elections were introduced a century ago, Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin rank among the oldest upon first entering the chamber. Johnson began his tenure at the age of 55 years, 8 months, and 26 days in January 2011, which is the oldest of any elected Wisconsin Senator during this popular vote era. The next oldest, Alexander Wiley, was more than one year younger when he took his seat in 1939 (54 years, 7 months, 8 days). Tammy Baldwin comes in at #6 being 50 years, 10 months, and 23 days when she took office in January of this year. The youngest elected Senator from the Badger State was Robert La Follette, Jr. at 30 years, 7 months, and 24 days (1925) when he took the seat of his legendary deceased father.