What's happening
Writing a plain-English summary… Track this bill to get it by email.
Why it matters
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to elections
- Referred to elections
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the election law, in relation to the nomination and election of presidential electors
Purpose
The purpose of this measure is to more accurately reflect the will of the people during presidential elections.
Summary of provisions
Sections one and two of this bill amend sections 6102 and 12-100 of the Election Law to modify the method for the electoral college vote in the election of the president and vice-president from a "winner-take-all" approach to a vote count per each congressional district plus 2 votes at-large.
Existing law
Under current law, the electoral college vote in New York State for president and vice-president is "winner-takes-all" based on the statewide popular vote.
Justification
The Electoral College system provides that each state be allocated a number of electoral votes equal to its congressional delegation, i.e. one for each member of the House of Representatives plus one for each Senator. Accordingly, New York has a total of 33 electoral votes. The method in which elector's are appointed is determined by each state as set forth in Article II, Sec. 1, cl. 2 of the United States Constitution. Presently all states (including New York), with the exception of Maine and Nebraska, have adopted the winner-take-all or at-large method for allocating electoral votes. Under this method the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in a state also receives all the electoral votes for that state. This has the effect of disadvantaging those presidential candidates who lose the statewide popular vote by a narrow margin since these candidates also fail to pick up ANY electoral votes. This is true even if the losing candidate wins several congressional districts by a wide margin.
The states of Maine and Nebraska have addressed this problem by using a system of allocating electoral votes whereby only 2 of the electoral votes, representing the Senate, are allocated based on the winning statewide popular vote and the rest are allocated based on the winning popular vote per congressional district. This has the advantage of reflecting a more accurate picture of the voter's will than under the winner-take-all approach.
Under the State's present winner-take-all system, strong presidential and vice-presidential candidates who lose the overall popular vote in New York also lose all 33 electoral votes. In a close presidential election, this method is not likely to project an accurate picture of voter response in New York.
This bill permits New York to implement an electoral college vote distribution whereby only 2 electoral votes are allocated at-large, while the rest are allocated per congressional district. In doing so, this bill enables New York to project a more accurate picture of voter response, thereby permitting greater representation of its people.
In providing a more equitable method of allocating electoral votes, this bill gives voters more incentive to participate in future elections.
Legislative history
S.1750 or 2006, S.310 of 2004, S.411 of 2002, S. 6719 of 2007/2008
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.