As we gear up for the next presidential race, imagine if this were our reality: every vote in every state has equal weight, every state in the nation is equally important to every candidate, and every winner is the first-place winner. Pipe dream? It doesn’t have to be.
This year our state Legislature will have a chance to add Maine to the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. NPV is a constitutional way to ensure that every vote in every state is equally relevant in the presidential selection process.
Here in Maine, in 2020, our “winner take all” district allocation of electors meant that 43% of Mainers’ presidential votes didn’t count because they did not vote for the winner of their district. Mainers not voting for Biden in the 1st District totaled 176,736. These votes didn’t count. Mainers not voting for Trump in the 2nd District totaled 179,657. These votes didn’t count. With NPV, every Mainer’s vote would count — not be discounted because it was among the minority in their district.
Please encourage our legislators to vote “yes” on L.D. 1578 and add Maine to the NPV Interstate Compact.
Betsy Williams
Brunswick
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