Popular vote for president passes General Assembly

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: U.S. President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. In today's inauguration ceremony Donald J. Trump becomes the 45th president of the United States. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) less WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: U.S. President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. In today's inauguration ceremony Donald J. ... more Photo: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images Photo: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Popular vote for president passes General Assembly 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

HARTFORD — The General Assembly on Saturday agreed to join a compact with 10 other states to use the national popular vote to elect a president.

“When you change our system, it takes thoughtful debate and moments when people have to think long and hard,” said Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk.

“For me, what is at the heart of the legislation is it provides people confidence that their vote counts,” Duff said.

The Senate voted 21-14 to join a National Popular Vote Compact. The states in that group agree to allocate their Electoral College votes to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote, rather than based on who won their state.

But the new system will not kick in until states joining the compact represent the 270 electoral votes needed to become president. Currently, the coalition has 165 electoral votes — 172 when Connecticut’s seven Electoral College votes are included.

The Democratic controlled House last week voted 77-73 to join the compact. The bill now goes to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy for an expected signature.

“The National Popular Vote compact will ensure an equal vote for every American citizen, regardless of which state they happen to live in,” Malloy said on Saturday.

The movement for a popular vote gained steam after President Donald Trump in 2016 won the electoral college vote by a comfortable margin but lost the national popular vote by less than three million votes.

California, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington state — along with Washington, D.C. — have joined the compact.

State Sen. Mae Flexer, D-Killingly, argued that the electoral college is outdated and a popular vote would attract more interest and participation.

“If the compact was in effect, the campaigns would be conducted in a different manner,” Flexer said.

“President Trump has said he would have campaigned differently,” Flexer said “This would increase turnout in a state where people thought the outcome was a foregone conclusion.”

State Sen. Michael McLachlan, R-Danbury, disagreed, and gave the Senate a lengthy lecture on constitutional history, the Founding Fathers and why the electoral college was put in place.

“If you switch to national popular vote and I’m a candidate for president and I’m a Democrat, I’m going to plant my team in California, the upper Midwest, New York City and Philadelphia,” McLachlan said.

“I’m going to target all those Blue areas,” he continued. “That’s why the Founding Fathers decided they don’t want what we are talking about here. There is no more relevance for small parts of the country. The Democrats go to where the blue is, and the Republicans go to where the red is, and everyone else goes to sleep.”

But Flexer said the shortcoming of the Electoral College is that attention is given only to so-called battleground states.

“States like Connecticut receive no attention, and Oklahoma receives no attention because it is deemed Republican,” Flexer noted. “This will shift how they campaign for president and will make sure all states are engaged in the election.”