An Oregon bill granting votes to the constituency to the winners of the national popular vote goes to the governor's office

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By a vote of 37-22 Tuesday, Oregon House passed SB 870, which would grant the votes of the state's constituency to the winner of the national popular vote.
The measure was passed by the state Senate in April by 17 votes to 12, and the Oregon governor's office, Kate Brown, said she would get the draft bill passed. law.
"This should be the subject of a legal review, but we expect it to sign it," Brown's deputy press secretary Nikki Fisher told CNN on Wednesday, citing Brown's support for a national popular vote since his position as secretary of state.

The governor has five days to consider the bill when he receives it from the legislature, but was not told when he will receive it, Fisher said.

If Brown signed the bill, Oregon would be the fifteenth state to distribute its electoral votes in this manner. California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, the state Washington and the District of Columbia have all joined the pact.

The agreement established by state law will only come into force if the cumulative total of state electoral votes exceeds the 270 required for a majority. The most recent addition, New Mexico, brought the total to 189 votes, and the seven votes of Oregon would total 196.

John Koza, president of National Popular Vote, Inc. – the group that supports the effort, said the measure would boost the votes of the Oregonians.

"The National Pact for the National People's Vote would allow every voter in Oregon to elect a more powerful president," Koza said in a statement. "It is the constitutionally conservative way of ensuring that every voter in every state is politically relevant in every presidential election while preserving the constituency."

But not all states responded positively to the proposal. Nevada's governor, Steve Sisolak, decided last week to veto his state's bill granting votes to the constituency to the winner of the national popular vote that voted both the Senate and the Assembly. After passing a similar bill by the Maine Senate last month, the measure failed in the House of Representatives last week.

The constituency effectively results in voters casting ballots not for the desired presidential candidates, but for 538 voters who, in turn, select candidates. The mechanism allowed President Donald Trump to win the 2016 presidential election despite Hillary Clinton, a Democratic candidate, winning the popular vote of almost 3 million votes.

And the problem has already reached the 2020 race. The Democratic presidential candidate, Elizabeth Warren, said at a CNN public meeting in March that she was supportive of the removal of the constituency.

"My point of view is that every vote counts, and the way we can do it is that we can have a national vote and that means getting rid of the Electoral College – and every vote counts," said the Massachusetts senator. Other candidates have since taken the same position.

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