HARTFORD — Connecticut’s General Assembly has voted to join a group of states that want to pool their Electoral College votes for the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote.
The Senate on Saturday voted 21-14 to enter the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. The bill already cleared the House of Representatives and now moves to Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who supports the concept.
Governor Malloy said of the vote, “With the exception of the presidency, every elected office in the country, from city council, to United States senator, to governor, is awarded the candidate who receives the most votes.The vote of every American citizen should count equally, yet under the current system, voters from sparsely populated states are awarded significantly more power than those from states like Connecticut. This is fundamentally unfair. The
National Popular Vote compact will ensure an equal vote for every American citizen, regardless of which state they happen to live in. I applaud the General Assembly for passing this commonsense legislation.”
Connecticut would be the 12th jurisdiction — a combination of 11 states and the District of Columbia — to join the pact.
Barry Fadem is president of the California-based National Popular Vote organization. He says he hopes other states will be influenced by Connecticut’s actions.
Connecticut would be the first state to join since Republican President Donald Trump won the Electoral College, but not the popular vote.
