Originally published at: DEVELOPING: Nevada Governor VETOES Bill to Bypass Electoral College | Sean Hannity
Nevada’s Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak officially vetoed legislation Thursday that would require his state’s electoral votes be cast for whichever presidential candidate wins the popular vote.
“After thoughtful deliberation, I have decided to veto Assembly Bill 186,” Sisolak said in a statement. “Once effective, the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact could diminish the role of smaller states like Nevada in national electoral contests and force Nevada’s electors to side with whoever wins the nationwide popular vote, rather than the candidate Nevadans choose.”
“I recognize that many of my fellow Nevadans may disagree on this point and I appreciate the legislature’s thoughtful consideration of this important issue,” he added.
If approved, the state would join a handful of others across the country pledging to cast their electoral votes to the popular winner; effectively bypassing the Electoral College as required under the US Constitution.
“Fourteen states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation to join the pact, which will only take effect if a number of states holding the majority of the Electoral College’s 538 electoral votes join the agreement,” reports The Hill.
Supporters of the legislation say the law would make America’s election system more democratic, with critics claiming the move is an attempt to bypass the Electoral system after Hillary Clinton’s defeat to Donald Trump in 2016.
A handful of Democratic candidates -including Elizabeth Warren and Beto O’Rourke- have called for the elimination of the Electoral College; claiming the system is “outdated’ and based on historical slavery in the United States.
“I believe we need a constitutional amendment that protects the right to vote for every American citizen and makes sure that vote gets counted,” said Warren during a televised town hall event in March.
Every vote matters. We need to get rid of the Electoral College so that presidential candidates have to ask every American in every part of the country for their vote, not just those in battleground states. #WarrenTownHall pic.twitter.com/UT3mYHXHQ2
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) March 19, 2019
“We need to put some federal muscle behind that, and we need to repeal every one of the voter suppression laws that is out there,” she added. “Every vote matters, and the way we can make that happen is that we can have national voting, and that means get rid of the Electoral College.”
