NY Governor Signs National Popular Vote Bill

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday signed the National Popular Vote bill, which would award the state's electoral votes to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes.

Currently, each state controls its own rules as to how electoral votes are awarded to candidates. To win election to the presidency, a candidate must receive 270 of the 538 electoral votes. Increasingly, that has meant that candidates focus only on a combination of some states to win the presidential election, reducing citizens in many states to spectator status. Plainly, their votes don't count.

But under the National Popular Vote bill, presidential candidates would compete for every vote in every state. States that pass the bill agree to award all of their electoral votes to the candidate with the most overall votes nationwide. The plan goes forward when states with at least a total of 270 electoral votes adopt it.

It already has been adopted by these jurisdictions: California, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and now New York State, for a total of 165 electoral votes. That's more than halfway to the necessary 270.

Learn more at http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/.