This Bill seeks to repeal and replace Amendment 12 of the US
Constitution without a constitutional amendment process. By Liberty Group Tea Party, Ellijay, Ga."Working to
preserve our Constitution" February 21, 2016
"POPULAR VOTE" "Georgia
SB376"
Everyone receiving this needs to take the time to read and
understand this. This is an important issue and we must make certain action is
not taken that will be harmful to the future of our Republic.
The compact for a National Popular Vote (NPV) is a
destructive scheme. Yet it's been approved by several States; and is pending in
others. Since the text of the
compact no longer seems to be set forth on the NPV website,
we'll look at the NPV bill now pending in Tennessee.
In a nutshell, the compact seeks to evade the 12th Amendment
to our Constitution (where the States elect the President); and substitutes a
national popular vote where inhabitants of major metropolitan areas elect the
President.
The Constitution our Framers gave us:
The federal government created by our Constitution is a
Federation of Sovereign States united under a federal government for those
limited purposes itemized in the Constitution; with all other powers reserved
by the States or the People.
So that The States - The Members of the Federation - could
maintain their independence and sovereignty, our Framers wrote these provisions
into our Constitution:
State Legislatures were to choose the U.S. Senators for
their State (Art. I, §3,cl. 1); and,
The States, as separate political entities, were to elect
the President (Art. II, §1, cls. 2 & 3).
The People were to elect only their Representatives to the
House (Art. I, § 2, cl.1).
James Madison explains in Federalist No. 45 (7th para), why
this ensured that The
States would maintain control over the federal government: "The State governments may be regarded as constituent
and essential parts of the federal government ...Without the intervention of
the State legislatures, the President of the United States cannot be elected at
all. They must in all cases have a great share in his appointment, and will,
perhaps, in most cases, of themselves determine it. The Senate will be elected
absolutely and exclusively by the State legislatures....Thus, each of the principal
branches of the federal government will owe its existence more or less to the
favor of the State governments ..." [boldface mine]
The result of State Legislatures choosing the U.S. Senators
and controlling the election of the President [via the selection of Electors],
was that the States would be able to control the federal government.
The 17th Amendment
But we threw away one of these safeguards when we foolishly
ratified the 17th Amendment with the popular election of U.S. Senators. This is
how The States - The Members of the Federation - lost their representation in
Congress and their control of the Senate. Art. II, §1, cl. 2 and the 12th
Amendment
We abandoned the other safeguard when we foolishly ignored
the procedures in the 12th Amendment where small bodies of specially chosen
wise and prudent men (Electors)
made the selections of President and Vice President for
their State. We allowed Electors to become rubber stamps for the popular vote
in their State.
Our Framers didn't want popular election of the President
because they recognized that People are easily manipulated by those who take
advantage of their "hopes and fears", to steer them towards
candidates favored by powerful groups (Federalist No. 64 (3rd & 4th paras;
Federalist No. 68, etc.)
Furthermore, under the 12th Amendment, the electoral votes
of each State are split according to how the Electors vote. If Tennessee obeyed
the 12th Amendment, it would work like this when selecting President: 5
Electors vote for Candidate X; 4 vote for Candidate Y; and 2 vote for Candidate Z.
Those would be the vote totals for President which would be sent to Congress.
The same procedures are to be followed
in a separate vote for Vice-President. 1 The "winner
takes all" practice followed in most States is unconstitutional!
How The National Popular Vote Scheme Will Work:
Under the scheme incorporated in the NPV bill pending in
Tennessee, all of Tennessee'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 wording of the compact is deliberately obscure. In plain
English, this is what it does: Art. II Each Member State will conduct a
statewide popular election for President and Vice
President. Art. III (a) & (b) The State Election
official in each Member State will add up the votes cast in all the States and
the D.C. to get the total number of votes cast nationally
for each presidential ticket. The State official will then
designate the presidential ticket with the largest number of votes nationally
as the "national popular vote winner".
(c) & (g) Electors will then be appointed in each Member
State who are to cast all their votes for the national popular vote winner.
So! If the popular vote in Tennessee is for James Madison,
but the total national popular vote favors Adolf Hitler, then all of
Tennessee's 11 Electoral Votes are awarded to Adolf Hitler. Indeed, the winner
of the national popular vote will end up with all the electoral votes for every
State. And do not think that the winner
will fail to claim a "Mandate"
for whatever he wants to do.
The States Can't Lawfully Enter Into A Compact Which
Violates The U.S. Constitution! Every aspect of the NPV violates the 12th
Amendment. It sets up a method of electing
the President and vice-President which is altogether repugnant to our
Constitution.
Furthermore, Art. I, §10, last clause, prohibits States from
"enter[ing] into any Agreement or Compact with another State"
"without the Consent of Congress".
So, whether the NPV Compact also
violates Art. I, §10, last clause, depends on whether Congress consents to it.
But Congress may not lawfully consent to unconstitutional compacts of the
States!
Under The NPV Scheme,
Votes From Major Metropolitan Areas Will Decide Presidential
Elections.
Most of the Population of these United States is located in
a few major metropolitan areas. Under the NPV scheme, these areas would decide
the elections for President!
The NPV is not about "making every vote count".
The NPV is about guaranteeing that every future presidential election is
decided by inhabitants of major metropolitan areas. And it further diminishes
State sovereignty.
What Should We Do?
Repeal the 17th Amendment. We must henceforth elect to
Congress only those who are committed to repealing the 17th Amendment. This is
the only way The States can regain
control of the Senate.
Return to the 12th Amendment. We must dismantle the present
unconstitutional and corrupt system and return to the method of electing the President
and Vice President
established in our Constitution. State Legislators could
restore to their States right now the power to control the President! All
States have to do is obey the 12th Amendment! Also, specially chosen Electors
are far more likely to choose good Presidents than the ignorant masses which
fill our major cities.
Even in its present perverted form, the "Electoral
College" serves two important purposes: (1) It balances the influence of
the heavily populated urban areas with the more sparsely populated rural areas;
and (2) gives the smaller States a voice in the election of President.
As a People, we need to STOP being so eager to amend a
Constitution we have never read and don't understand.
Endnote:
1 For an illustration of how voting under the 12th Amendment
is to be conducted, see THIS under the subheading, "The 12th Amendment
Establishes Procedures For Voting By Electors." GOD BLESS AMERICA
Georgia SB 376 16 LC 28 7835
S. B. 376 - 1 -
Senate Bill 376
By: Senators Shafer of the 48th,
Henson of the 41st, Kennedy of the 18th, Williams of the 27th, Hill of the 32nd
and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT
1 To amend Title 21 of the Official
Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to elections, so as to
2 enact the Agreement Among the
States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote; to
3 allow states to join together to
establish an interstate compact to elect the president by
4 national popular vote; to provide
for the implementation of such compact; to provide for
5 definitions; to provide for
related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL
ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
7 SECTION 1.
8 Title 21 of the Official Code of
Georgia Annotated, relating to elections, is amended by
9 adding a new chapter to read as
follows:
10 "CHAPTER 6
11 21-6-1.
12 The Agreement Among the States
to Elect the President by National Popular Vote is
13 enacted into law and entered
into by this state with all other jurisdictions legally joining
14 therein in the form substantially
as follows:
15 'AGREEMENT AMONG THE STATES TO
ELECT THE PRESIDENT BY
16 NATIONAL POPULAR VOTE
17 ARTICLE I
18 Membership
19 Any state of the United States
and the District of Columbia may become a member of this
20 agreement by enacting this
agreement.
21 ARTICLE II
16 LC 28 7835
S. B. 376
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22 Right of the People in Member
23 States to Vote for President and
Vice President
24 Each member state shall conduct
a statewide popular election for President and Vice
25 President of the United States.
26 ARTICLE III
27 Manner of Appointing
Presidential Electors in Member States
28 Prior to the time set by law for
the meeting and voting by the presidential electors, the
29 chief election official of each
member state shall determine the number of votes for each
30 presidential slate in each state
of the United States and in the District of Columbia in
31 which votes have been cast in a
statewide popular election and shall add such votes
32 together to produce a
"national popular vote total" for each presidential slate. The chief
33 election official of each member
state shall designate the presidential slate with the
34 largest national popular vote
total as the "national popular vote winner." The presidential
35 elector certifying official of
each member state shall certify the appointment in that
36 official's own state of the
elector slate nominated in that state in association with the
37 national popular vote winner. At
least six days before the day fixed by law for the
38 meeting and voting by the presidential
electors, each member state shall make a final
39 determination of the number of
popular votes cast in the state for each presidential slate
40 and shall communicate an
official statement of such determination within 24 hours to the
41 chief election official of each
other member state. The chief election official of each
42 member state shall treat as
conclusive an official statement containing the number of
43 popular votes in a state for
each presidential slate made by the day established by federal
44 law for making a state's final
determination conclusive as to the counting of electoral
45 votes by Congress. In event of a
tie for the national popular vote winner, the presidential
46 elector certifying official of
each member state shall certify the appointment of the elector
47 slate nominated in association
with the presidential slate receiving the largest number of
48 popular votes within that
official's own state. If, for any reason, the number of
49 presidential electors nominated
in a member state in association with the national popular
50 vote winner is less than or
greater than that state's number of electoral votes, the
51 presidential candidate on the
presidential slate that has been designated as the national
52 popular vote winner shall have
the power to nominate the presidential electors for that
53 state and that state's
presidential elector certifying official shall certify the appointment
54 of such nominees. The chief
election official of each member state shall immediately
55 release to the public all vote
counts or statements of votes as they are determined or
16 LC 28 7835
S. B. 376
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56 obtained. This article shall
govern the appointment of presidential electors in each
57 member state in any year in
which this agreement is, on July 20, in effect in states
58 cumulatively possessing a
majority of the electoral votes.
59 ARTICLE IV
60 Other Provisions
61 This agreement shall take effect
when states cumulatively possessing a majority of the
62 electoral votes have enacted
this agreement in substantially the same form and the
63 enactments by such states have
taken effect in each state. Any member state may
64 withdraw from this agreement,
except that a withdrawal occurring six months or less
65 before the end of a president's
term shall not become effective until a president or vice
66 president shall have been
qualified to serve the next term. The chief executive of each
67 member state shall promptly
notify the chief executive of all other states of when this
68 agreement has been enacted and
has taken effect in that official's state, when the state has
69 withdrawn from this agreement,
and when this agreement takes effect generally. This
70 agreement shall terminate if the
electoral college is abolished. If any provision of this
71 agreement is held invalid, the
remaining provisions shall not be affected.
72 ARTICLE V
73 Definitions
74 For purposes of this agreement:
75 (1) "Chief executive"
shall mean the Governor of a state of the United States or the
76 mayor of the District of
Columbia;
77 (2) "Elector slate"
shall mean a slate of candidates who have been nominated in a state
78 for the position of presidential
elector in association with a presidential slate;
79 (3) "Chief election
official" shall mean the state official or body that is authorized to
80 certify the total number of
popular votes for each presidential slate;
81 (4) "Presidential
elector" shall mean an elector for President and Vice President of the
82 United States;
83 (5) "Presidential elector
certifying official" shall mean the state official or body that
84 is authorized to certify the
appointment of the state's presidential electors;
85 (6) "Presidential
slate" shall mean a slate of two persons, the first of whom has been
86 nominated as a candidate for
President of the United States and the second of whom has
87 been nominated as a candidate
for Vice President of the United States, or any legal
16 LC 28 7835
S. B. 376
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88 successors to such persons,
regardless of whether both names appear on the ballot
89 presented to the voter in a
particular state;
90 (7) "State" shall mean
a State of the United States and the District of Columbia; and
91 (8) "Statewide popular
election" shall mean a general election in which votes are cast
92 for presidential slates by
individual voters and counted on a statewide basis.'
93 21-6-2.
94 Until the Agreement Among the
States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote
95 provided for in Code Section
21-6-1 becomes effective or if at any time such agreement
96 ceases to be effective for any
reason, presidential electors shall be selected as provided in
97 Chapter 2 of this title."
98 SECTION 2.
99
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed
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