Good news!  There is a new organization Save Our States with the sole mission of promoting the Electoral College throughout the country and defending it in states where it is threatened. Save Our States is the result of a group of concerned individuals from across the United States that came together to pool knowledge and resources to protect and promote the Electoral College.  I’m proud to one of them.

Regular readers know that I spent a good deal of time last spring in a fierce battle to save the Electoral College in Colorado.  Supporters of National Popular Vote, a.k.a. the Koza Scheme, including Senator Chris Romer and Representative Andy Kerr, almost got legislation through the General Assembly that would have rendered Colorado political impotent in presidential elections. Coloradans got wind of the disastrous plan and swamped lawmakers with phone calls and emails urging them to vote no on HB 09-1299.  Fortunately, good triumphed over paid lobbyists and the Electoral College survived.

So far in 2010, Save Our States has helped defeat National Popular Vote in Maine. Also our experts have visited Wisconsin and plan to testify in Alaska.  We have not seen NPV legislation thus far in Colorado but that doesn’t mean we won’t. Last year, it received late bill status meaning it was introduced after the regular deadline.  Please take time to educate yourself by visiting Save Our States.  Under the “STATES” tab, click on Colorado.  There you will some of my contributions.  This year we will be prepared — with Electoral College warriors.

Now that’s funny.  I just wish it weren’t so darn serious!  Check out Face the State’s 2009 Legislative Superlatives.  The most misguided legislator — State Rep Andy Kerr — won the honor of “most likely to get a Che tattoo” for his work on behalf of National Popular Vote, a.k.a. the Koza Scheme, and his insistance that the United States is a democracy.  Most frightening is that Kerr teaches “Social Studies.” Maybe he should learn history first.

I’m sure Rep Kerr is a nice guy but his lack of basic knowledge of American civics somehow should disqualify him from holding elected office.  Fortunately for Coloradans, Kerr’s disastrous legislation to destroy the Electoral College was killed in the Senate. 

Apparently a lot of you called the Capitol and gave him and his Democrat colleagues the business.  According to FTS, “His [Kerr's] sponsorship of the National Popular Vote bill this session sure upset a lot of people. And we mean a lot of people.”

Finally, check out who is just to the right of Kerr on the FTS Superlatives page.  Coincidence that one of Kerr’s biggest critics is next to him under the title of “Hottest Radio Host?” I hope not.

One of the worst pieces of legislation, HB 1299 designed to destroy the Electoral College, was killed in the Colorado Senate by its sponsor Sen. Chris Romer.  Apparently Romer didn’t have the votes to pass it.  Sometimes good does triumph over evil. 

Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry had this to say, “For those of us who think the founders plan to pick a president is enduringly wise, the defeat of this bill is a major accomplishment.” Penry added, “Attention Democrats: The 2000 election is over.  It’s time to Move-on.org.”     

While this is good news for Colorado, still the Electoral College is under assault in other states and across the country.  National Popular Vote, a.k.a. the Koza Scheme, has passed in Hawaii, Maryland, Illinois, New Jersey and Washington.  Several other states will consider destroying the Electoral College over the next few weeks.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve listed plenty of reasons to defeat the Koza scheme.  If you need more, below is the text of an op-ed I wrote that appeared last week in both the Denver Daily News and the Pueblo Chieftain.

If National Popular Vote wins, we lose

By Amy Oliver

This week the Colorado Senate will debate the relevance of our state in the next presidential election and the legitimacy of our nation as it considers HB 1299.

If passed, our state will join a compact of other states. All nine electoral votes will go the leader of the national popular vote, regardless of the will of Colorado voters. This end run around the Constitution is known as National Popular Vote or Koza scheme, named after multi-millionaire John Koza who concocted the plan to destroy the Electoral College in favor of a national popular vote without a constitutional amendment.

Ever since the 2000 election when Al Gore narrowly won the popular vote but lost the electoral vote to George W. Bush, some Democrats have been on a mission to destroy the Electoral College. It’s important to remember that had Gore been able to win even a single southern or border state–such as his “home” state of Tennessee or Bill Clinton’s home state of Arkansas, he would have been President. George W. Bush won the popular vote in 30 states, therefore giving him the necessary number of electoral votes to win the presidency. Middle America was able to avoid the tyranny of the East and West Coasts.

Inherent in this movement to rid the country of the Electoral College is a misguided notion that the United States is a democracy rather than a republic. Our Founding Fathers recognized the danger of a democracy where 51 percent rules 49, and thus created a republic where the rights of individuals are protected from the whims of the majority. The Electoral College is vital to maintaining our republic. It forces a presidential candidate to garner support that is both broad and deep, not concentrated on the coasts or urban areas.

Previous attempts to destroy the Electoral College in Colorado have been unsuccessful.

In 2004, a handful of Democrats bankrolled by a Brazilian millionaire asked Coloradans to change how the state awards its nine electoral votes. In a vote that wasn’t even close, nearly 66 percent of voters said, “NO!” and rejected proposed Amendment 36.

In 2007, Senator Ken Gordon introduced legislation that would force Colorado to be part of the Koza scheme. It passed the Senate but died in the House.

This year, State Representative Andy Kerr introduced the Koza scheme in the House where it passed on a 34-29 vote. It passed the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee along a party line vote and now awaits Second Reading in the full Senate.

Supporters of the Koza scheme are undeterred by arguments that the United States is a republic rather than a democracy and that Colorado will be little more than “fly-over” area during the next election. Perhaps supporters should consider other arguments.

For instance, what about a regional presidential candidate? A candidate could enjoy overwhelming support along the Eastern Seaboard and the Northeast and not even be on the ballot in Colorado. If he is the winner of the national popular vote, Colorado’s electoral votes would go to a candidate on whom Coloradans had no say.

Another problem is that no national standards exist about who can vote. In Vermont, a state considering the Koza scheme, a convicted felon serving time in prison can vote. In Colorado only those convicted felons who have completed their parole may vote. As a result, Colorado may have to award its electoral votes to the candidate that felons serving time in Vermont prisons support but that didn’t win the support of Colorado voters.

Also, political instability would be the rule rather than the exception especially in close elections as states demand recounts if their candidate of choice does not win the national popular vote. In Senate Committee testimony, University Law Professor Robert Hardaway concluded that had the Koza scheme been in place during the 1960 election between Democrat John Kennedy and Republican Richard Nixon, the country would have endured years of lawsuits with no declared presidential winner until the 1964 election. In this case, the Speaker of the House would serve as an interim president.

After the 1960 election, some Republicans called for the abolition of the Electoral College. It was the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) who warned in 1979 that without the Electoral College,

“the drama, the dignity, and decisiveness and finality of the American political system is drained away in an endless sequence of contests, disputed outcomes, and more contests to resolve outcomes already disrupted….That is how legitimacy is lost.”

HB 1299 is not only bad for Colorado but also for our nation. Colorado legislators should ask themselves if it the Koza scheme is worth it. After all, power is cyclical.

According to my sources, HB 1299, National Popular Vote to destroy the Electoral College, still is waiting for second reading in the Colorado Senate.  Right now the budget is the main priority.  And ”since 1299 is controversial they [Democrats] will wait for the right political moment/day to consider it.”

Another news organization opposes Andy Kerr’s horrible legislation.  In Denver Times,the new internet news gathering site created by former Rocky Mountain News employees, writes “Make no mistake, there are good arguments to be made in defense of HB 1299 .”  The editorial goes on to state,

[W]ithout the Electoral College, those less populous states would become entirely redundant and cities would gain at the expense of rural areas, thus undermining the sort of broad-based consensus the current system supports. Also endangered by a move away from the Electoral College would be the stability of the two-party system and the separation of powers.

I have not found a reputable news outlet in Colorado that favors the Electoral College.

Supporters of the Electoral College have been saying that saving the institution should not be a partisan issue, but in Colorado it turns out that it is.  The Colorado Democrat Party Platform calls for the abolition of the Founding Fathers’ stroke of genius to maintain the delicate balance in our republic. 

On page six of their party platform Democrats state:  “We call for the replacement of the Electoral College with the direct election of the President and Vice President of the United States.  We support adoption of the National Popular Vote Bill in a compact with other states.”

I’m not surprised that the Democrats call for the abolition of the Electoral College.  It is vital to our republic but not to the “democracy” that the Colorado Democrats would like to force on all of us.  Now I know where Andy Kerr gets his vision of American government.  Page six also states, “trustworthy elections are a cornerstone of democracy.”  Either they never learned we are a republic, or worse, they don’t care.

I give Damon Agnos credit for being honest in his blog at the Seattle Weekly.  He is the first supporter of the Koza scheme (a.k.a. national popular vote) to admit truthfully the motive behind destroying the Electoral College.  Agnos writes, “a national popular vote would disempower the staunchly Republican farm states in the middle of the country.”   At least he doesn’t employ the “every vote should count” myth.

He also reports on two amendments that I suggest Colorado state senators opposed to Andy Kerr’s disastrous legislation to kill the Electoral College introduce next week before third reading.  The first amendment would require every state to have the same ballot.  As it stands now, states decide the process by which a candidate may petition to be on a ballot.  That means that not every presidential candidate is on the ballot in every state.  It’s difficult to have a national popular vote if we don’t have a national popular ballot.

The second amendment is more intriguing and possibly more controversial in Colorado.  Colorado could require that the only way it would join the Koza compact is if no states allowed incarcerated felons to vote.   For instance, Vermont, which passed Koza in both houses in 2008 before the Governor vetoed it, has no restrictions on convicted felons voting; they are allowed to vote from jail.  In Colorado, convicted felons may vote only after they have completed their parole.  Procon.org is a great source for differences between states on the voting rights of convicted felons.   Bottom line, unless all states adopt the same requirements for convicted felons voting (and I’d suggest standardized voter identification requirements too), then Colorado cannot enter into the Koza compact. 

These amendments might make next week’s debate interesting.

The Colorado Senate has delayed second reading of HB 1299, national popular nightmare, until Monday.

HB 1299 is scheduled for second reading in the Senate on Friday, April 3.  National Popular Nightmare or the Koza scheme likely will pass the Senate and wait for the Governor’s signature.

In the last few weeks I have discovered that supporters of this plan to render Colorado politically impotent are not impressed with arguments about federalism and Founding Fathers’ original intent.  Koza scheme supporter State Representative Claire Levy said as much when she made this frightening statement in a letter to Ross Kaminsky, “It [the Electoral College] prioritizes an unfounded notion of federalism over achieving the result that best reflects the will of the majority. “  You can read her complete response at www.rossputin.com.

Opposition to this nightmare is mounting.  The Denver Post opposed the Koza scheme in a house editorial.  I don’t believe a newpaper in the state has endorsed it.  Yet HB 1299 marches along despite the growing public outcry.

One of my favorite intellecutal exercises is to speculate about the unintended consequences of public policy.   Professor Robert Hardaway did just that when testified against HB 1299 – the national popular nightmare.  Prof Hardaway uses the 1960 election, with its very close popular vote between Kennedy and Nixon, as an example.  Had we had a national popular vote rather than the Electoral College  in 1960, Hardaway concludes that America would have endured years of lawsuits and no confirmed president until the 1964 election. 

This view is shared by an Independence Institute sister think tank the Evergreen Freedom Foundation in Washington, which is also battling anti-Electoral College forces.  Trent England predicts political instability under the national popular nightmare.

Hardaway’s and England’s predictions aren’t new.  The late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) came to the same conclusion in 1979 in his statement about the Electoral College on the floor of the United States Senate.

It would be an election no one understood until the next day or the day after, with recounts that go on forever, and in any event, with no conclusion, and a runoff to come. The drama, the dignity, and decisiveness and finality of the American political system is drained away in an endless sequence of contests, disputed outcomes, and more contests to resolve outcomes already disrupted.

That is how legitimacy is lost. That is how a nation trivializes those solemn events that make for the singlemost important ingredient of a civil society, which is trust.

Imagine Minnesota in 50 states.  Imagine the political instability.  Imagine a banana republic ruled by a small, wealthy and corrupt clique.

Hardaway refers to the national popular vote as the “Koza scheme.”  The name comes from multi-millionaire John Koza, developer of the rub-off lottery ticket , who concocted the scheme to destroy the Electoral College in favor of a national popular vote without a constitutional amendment.  According to the New York Times, Koza even acknowledges that he is circumventing the Constitution.  “‘When people complain that it’s an end run,’ Dr. Koza said, I just tell them, ‘Hey, an end run is a legal play in football.’”

After speaking with Prof. Hardaway, he believes the national popular nightmare is unconstitutional on both a state and federal level and that advocates of the Koza scheme really just want to generate publicity for their dangerous cause.

We have to stop this assault on one of the foundations of our republic, of federalism. Right now, the future of the Electoral College is in the hands of the Colorado Senate.  Contact your state senatorsand tell them how you feel.  Also, contact Governor Bill Ritter and tell him the same.

Mail
Bill Ritter, Governor
136 State Capitol
Denver, CO 80203-1792

Phone  (303) 866-2471

Fax  (303) 866-2003

Email Governor’s spokesman evan.dreyer@state.co.us

Hardaway collaborated with Professor Jim Riley of Regis University to produce much of the information posted to right of my blog under “Pages.”

HB 1299 undermines federalism

Top Myths of the Koza scheme

Questions for state senators to answers

The Electoral College, the Constitution and the case for federalism

Bad day for the Constitution in Colorado. 

The Electoral College is not officially dead — yet.  But it will be shortly.   HB 1299, which changes how Colorado awards its 9 electoral votes in the presidential election, passed out of the Senate State, Military and Veterans Affairs along a party line vote.  It’s on to the whole Senate where it probably will pass.  The insane legislation forces Colorado into a compact of states that throws its support behind the winner of the national popular vote regardless of the will of Colorado voters.  Coloradans can just watch as New York and California annoint the next president.

Mark Grueskin and Ted Trimpa, two lawyer/lobbyists intimately involved with the infamous Colorado Democracy Alliance, testified in favor of HB 1299.  Grueskin was the first to testify.  When Chairwoman Suzanne Williams asked if there were any questions for Grueskin, Senator Bob Bacon (D-Fort Collins) was almost giddy in agreement, proudly proclaiming he is persuaded to support it.  He didn’t have a question — just an opinion.  It was like a judge telling everyone the outcome of the trial after hearing only one witness.   Bacon couldn’t get enough of Grueskin, smiling and nodding in agreement with every word Grueskin uttered.

Three citizens (including me) and two professors testified against HB 1299.  University of Denver Law Professor Robert Hardaway made a compelling case for the law of unintended consequences.  He predicted that this compact will result a plethora of lawsuits that will make Florida look like a student council election.  But committee members had their minds made up already.

When I testified, Bacon lectured me about the nearly 700,000 Coloradans that voted no on Amendment 36 that I cited during my testimony.   Chairwoman Williams didn’t let me respond.  I nearly choked on the blood as I bit a hole through my tongue.

Senators Suzanne Williams, Betty Boyd and Bob Bacon voted to destroy the Electoral College.  Senator David Schultheis voted to save it.

The nightmare that is the 2009 legislative session can’t end soon enough.