Update: On June 12, the Maine House reversed its vote against the National Popular Vote compact after seven Democrats (Betty Austin, Anne Carney, Henry Ingwersen, Colleen Madigan, Chloe Maxmin, Ann Peoples and Maureen “Mo” Terry) changed their vote. The bill faces final enactment votes in the Senate and House.
Twenty-one Maine House Democrats voted on May 30 with all Republican representatives against a bill to join with other states to essentially bypass the Electoral College and ensure that the U.S. President is elected by the national popular vote.
The legislation, sponsored by Senate President Troy Jackson (D-Aroostook), would have Maine join the National Popular Vote compact, which 11 states and the District of Columbia have already signed into law, agreeing to distribute their electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the most votes.
The Maine House voted against the proposal, 76-66. The bill now goes back to the Senate, which passed the bill on May 14, and could die between chambers if lawmakers cannot be swayed to change their votes.
With two presidential elections won by candidates who did not carry the popular vote since 2000, democracy advocates in Maine were unhappy with Thursday’s House vote.
“We are disappointed. No one thinks the current presidential election system is fair or democratic, and here we have a practical and popular solution,” said John Brautigam, a spokesperson for Maine Citizens for Clean Elections.
“One of the ironies of the floor debate was that legislators who claim to stand up for states’ rights refused to acknowledge the rights that the constitution already gives each state,” Brautigam continued. “Specifically, states now have the right to decide how to allocate our electoral votes. Opponents thought that using that right would somehow violate the constitution.”
“I’m afraid that well-meaning opponents have traded the greater good of true democracy in the election of our national leader, for the illusory hope for small state power that never existed and never will,” he added.
If the legislation ultimately fails, Maine would be an outlier among states with Democratic majorities. If Nevada and Oregon sign on this year, every other state where Democrats control the governor’s office and both chambers of their state legislatures will have joined the compact.
Maine Republicans have made the claim that the compact would silence rural voters. In February, former Governor Paul LePage weighed in as well, saying the proposal would specifically silence white voters, whom he said would become “forgotten people.”
The Electoral College is rooted in the U.S. history of slavery.
Twenty-one House Democrats voted against the compact, a majority of them from Maine’s First Congressional District: State Reps. Robert Alley, Betty Austin, Chris Babbidge, Chris Caiazzo, Anne Carney, Janice Cooper, Ed Crockett, Jessica Fay, Alison Hepler, Henry Ingwersen, Scott Landry, Colleen Madigan, Chloe Maxmin, Catherine Nadeau, Ann Peoples, Tina Riley, Braden Sharpe, Bettyann Sheats, Maureen “Mo” Terry, Arthur Verow and Bruce White.
(Photo: Bill sponsor Senate President Troy Jackson | Dan Neumann)
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