CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE 20172018 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Joint Resolution No. 1Introduced by Assembly Member Low(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonta, Calderon, Chiu, Cristina Garcia, Gonzalez, Kalra, Levine, McCarty, Nazarian, Santiago, and Wood)(Coauthors: Senators Allen and Wieckowski)December 05, 2016 Relative to the presidential elections. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGESTAJR 1, as introduced, Low. Presidential elections: electoral college.This measure would urge the United States Congress to propose and send to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment to abolish the electoral college and provide for the direct election of the President and Vice President of the United States by the popular vote of all eligible citizens of the United States.Digest Key Fiscal Committee: NO Bill TextWHEREAS, The electoral college is provided for in Section 1 of Article II of, and Amendment 12 to, the United States Constitution, whereby states are directed to appoint electors who then meet and cast votes for President and Vice President of the United States; andWHEREAS, Voters cast ballots in the presidential election to select 538 electors, rather than voting directly for their preferred candidate; andWHEREAS, Two-thirds of the campaign events for the 2016 presidential general election occurred in only six states: Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, and Michigan; andWHEREAS, According to National Popular Vote, 94 percent of the campaign events for the 2016 presidential general election occurred in only 12 states; andWHEREAS, A total of 24 states had zero campaign events for the 2016 presidential general election; andWHEREAS, If the objective of the presidential election is to accumulate the most popular votes, as opposed to winning or losing a particular state and its electors, then there will be incentive for presidential candidates to compete for every vote in every state; andWHEREAS, Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is leading the popular vote by over 2,000,000 votes in the 2016 general election, but still is expected to lose the presidency to presumed President-elect Donald Trump who has a majority of the electors in the electoral college pledged to him; andWHEREAS, Opponents of presumed President-elect Donald Trump are attempting to persuade electors who are pledged to him to vote against him when the electors cast their votes on December 19, 2016; andWHEREAS, Since the establishment of the electoral college, 157 electors have declined to vote for the presidential candidate to whom they were pledged, thereby becoming so-called faithless electors; andWHEREAS, If presumed President-elect Donald Trump wins the electoral college, then that would mean that twice in the past 16 years the candidates for President and Vice President of the United States who won the popular vote still lost the election because they did not win a majority of the votes in the electoral college; andWHEREAS, The electoral college contradicts the principle of one person, one vote, and yet the electoral college is used to elect the one leader who is supposed to answer to all of the people of this country; andWHEREAS, Ten states, including California, and the District of Columbia have already enacted the National Popular Vote bill, which ratifies an interstate compact that would guarantee the presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia; andWHEREAS, The interstate compact will only become effective if states cumulatively possessing a majority of the total electoral college votes ratify the compact; andWHEREAS, The electoral college is an outdated, undemocratic system that does not reflect our modern society and needs to be changed immediately; andWHEREAS, Every voter should have his or her vote count; andWHEREAS, Abolishing the electoral college requires an amendment to the United States Constitution; andWHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution authorizes the United States Congress, by two-thirds vote, to propose amendments to the United States Constitution, which shall become effective when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states; now, therefore, be itResolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California urges the United States Congress to propose and send to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment to abolish the electoral college and provide for the direct election of the President and Vice President of the United States by the popular vote of all eligible citizens of the United States; and be it furtherResolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, the Minority Leader of the United States Senate, and to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States.
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE 20172018 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Joint Resolution No. 1Introduced by Assembly Member Low(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonta, Calderon, Chiu, Cristina Garcia, Gonzalez, Kalra, Levine, McCarty, Nazarian, Santiago, and Wood)(Coauthors: Senators Allen and Wieckowski)December 05, 2016 Relative to the presidential elections. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGESTAJR 1, as introduced, Low. Presidential elections: electoral college.This measure would urge the United States Congress to propose and send to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment to abolish the electoral college and provide for the direct election of the President and Vice President of the United States by the popular vote of all eligible citizens of the United States.Digest Key Fiscal Committee: NO
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE 20172018 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Joint Resolution No. 1
Introduced by Assembly Member Low(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonta, Calderon, Chiu, Cristina Garcia, Gonzalez, Kalra, Levine, McCarty, Nazarian, Santiago, and Wood)(Coauthors: Senators Allen and Wieckowski)December 05, 2016
Introduced by Assembly Member Low(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonta, Calderon, Chiu, Cristina Garcia, Gonzalez, Kalra, Levine, McCarty, Nazarian, Santiago, and Wood)(Coauthors: Senators Allen and Wieckowski)
December 05, 2016
Relative to the presidential elections.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
## LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AJR 1, as introduced, Low. Presidential elections: electoral college.
This measure would urge the United States Congress to propose and send to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment to abolish the electoral college and provide for the direct election of the President and Vice President of the United States by the popular vote of all eligible citizens of the United States.
This measure would urge the United States Congress to propose and send to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment to abolish the electoral college and provide for the direct election of the President and Vice President of the United States by the popular vote of all eligible citizens of the United States.
## Digest Key
## Bill Text
WHEREAS, The electoral college is provided for in Section 1 of Article II of, and Amendment 12 to, the United States Constitution, whereby states are directed to appoint electors who then meet and cast votes for President and Vice President of the United States; and
WHEREAS, Voters cast ballots in the presidential election to select 538 electors, rather than voting directly for their preferred candidate; and
WHEREAS, Two-thirds of the campaign events for the 2016 presidential general election occurred in only six states: Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, and Michigan; and
WHEREAS, According to National Popular Vote, 94 percent of the campaign events for the 2016 presidential general election occurred in only 12 states; and
WHEREAS, A total of 24 states had zero campaign events for the 2016 presidential general election; and
WHEREAS, If the objective of the presidential election is to accumulate the most popular votes, as opposed to winning or losing a particular state and its electors, then there will be incentive for presidential candidates to compete for every vote in every state; and
WHEREAS, Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is leading the popular vote by over 2,000,000 votes in the 2016 general election, but still is expected to lose the presidency to presumed President-elect Donald Trump who has a majority of the electors in the electoral college pledged to him; and
WHEREAS, Opponents of presumed President-elect Donald Trump are attempting to persuade electors who are pledged to him to vote against him when the electors cast their votes on December 19, 2016; and
WHEREAS, Since the establishment of the electoral college, 157 electors have declined to vote for the presidential candidate to whom they were pledged, thereby becoming so-called faithless electors; and
WHEREAS, If presumed President-elect Donald Trump wins the electoral college, then that would mean that twice in the past 16 years the candidates for President and Vice President of the United States who won the popular vote still lost the election because they did not win a majority of the votes in the electoral college; and
WHEREAS, The electoral college contradicts the principle of one person, one vote, and yet the electoral college is used to elect the one leader who is supposed to answer to all of the people of this country; and
WHEREAS, Ten states, including California, and the District of Columbia have already enacted the National Popular Vote bill, which ratifies an interstate compact that would guarantee the presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia; and
WHEREAS, The interstate compact will only become effective if states cumulatively possessing a majority of the total electoral college votes ratify the compact; and
WHEREAS, The electoral college is an outdated, undemocratic system that does not reflect our modern society and needs to be changed immediately; and
WHEREAS, Every voter should have his or her vote count; and
WHEREAS, Abolishing the electoral college requires an amendment to the United States Constitution; and
WHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution authorizes the United States Congress, by two-thirds vote, to propose amendments to the United States Constitution, which shall become effective when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California urges the United States Congress to propose and send to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment to abolish the electoral college and provide for the direct election of the President and Vice President of the United States by the popular vote of all eligible citizens of the United States; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, the Minority Leader of the United States Senate, and to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States.