Albis Helps Lead The Charge For Popular Vote Over Electoral College in Connecticut

By Jack Kramer, Patch Correspondent

EAST HAVEN, CT – Rep. James Albis knows better than anyone the importance of every single vote.

“I won (re-election) by 11 votes,” Albis said Wednesday at the state capitol, speaking as one of the legislators in support of bills proposing that Connecticut join the list of states going to National Popular Vote instead of Electoral College to elect presidents.

“My support for the National Popular Vote is indicative of the equity that is inherent in this policy,” said Albis. “Studies have shown that swing states and battleground states get more federal dollars than other states.

“Connecticut is at a disadvantage there, and this bill would help level that playing field. The National Popular Vote also create equity for a person’s vote. A vote in Connecticut counts less than a vote in Ohio right now,” Albis said.

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Albis won re-election to his East Haven state representative seat – only after a recount this past November.

There are several different bills proposed this year to have Connecticut do away with the Electoral College, including proposed by Senate President Martin Looney and another one by Albis.

Looney held a press conference Wednesday before the General Assembly’s Government Administration and Elections Commission held a public hearing on his and other bills calling for Connecticut to go a National Popular Vote.

To date, the National Popular Vote bill has been enacted by a total of 11 states possessing 165 electoral votes, which represent 61 percent of the 270 electoral votes necessary to activate it. Connecticut’s neighboring states — New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island — have passed this bill.

The compact takes effect only when enough states sign on to guarantee that the national popular vote winner wins the presidency. This means that states with a combined total of 270 electoral votes — a majority of the Electoral College — must join the compact for it to take effect.

President Donald Trump’s win over Hillary Clinton has renewed talk across the country, including Connecticut, of going to a winner-take-all National Popular Vote election.

More Americans voted for Clinton than any other losing presidential candidate in United States history.

The Democrat outpaced President Donald Trump by almost 2.9 million votes, with 65,844,954 (48.2 percent) to Trump’s 62,979,879 (46.1 percent), according to certified final election results.

Trump received 304 electoral votes — 34 more than needed to be elected — to Clinton’s 227. Seven “faithless” electors voted for other candidates, costing Trump two votes and Clinton four.

Clinton’s 2.1 percent margin ranks third among defeated candidates. Andrew Jackson won by more than 10 percent in 1824 but was denied the presidency, which went to John Quincy Adams. In 1876, Samuel Tilden received 3 percent more vote than Rutherford B. Hayes, who eventually won by 1 electoral vote.

In Connecticut, Clinton won the state’s seven Electoral College votes, easily beating Trump by a 54 to 40 percent total.