PRINTER'S NO. 232
No. 21 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY ORIE, NAILOR, GEIST, THOMAS, GRUCELA, SURRA,
RAMOS, TIGUE, HERSHEY, FREEMAN, PESCI, MUNDY, LAUGHLIN,
YOUNGBLOOD AND BARRAR, FEBRUARY 2, 1999
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS,
FEBRUARY 2, 1999
A RESOLUTION
1 Memorializing the Congress of the United States to enact
2 legislation to amend the Constitution of the United States to
3 abolish the Electoral College and to provide for the direct
4 election of the President and Vice President of the United
5 States.
6 WHEREAS, The Electoral College is an archaic method by which
7 the President and Vice President of the United States of America
8 are elected and was created by the Framers of the Constitution
9 as a compromise between electing presidents by the Congress of
10 the United States or by direct popular vote; and
11 WHEREAS, Since January 6, 1797, when Representative William
12 L. Smith introduced in Congress the first proposed
13 constitutional amendment for reform of the Electoral College
14 system, hardly a session of Congress has passed without the
15 introduction of one or more resolutions of this nature; and
16 WHEREAS, The development of national political parties and
17 the nomination of tickets for President and Vice President
18 created further confusion in the electoral system; and
1 WHEREAS, The constitutional provisions governing the
2 selection of the President and Vice President have had few
3 defenders, and many efforts at Electoral College reform have
4 been undertaken; and
5 WHEREAS, In recent years public interest in a change in the
6 Electoral College system was spurred by the close 1960 and 1968
7 elections, by a series of United States Supreme Court rulings
8 relating to apportionment and districting and by introduction of
9 the unpledged elector systems in the southern states; and
10 WHEREAS, Since the ratification of the Constitution of the
11 United States, tremendous strides in technology and
12 communications have occurred with the development of radio,
13 television, computers and high speed data collection that would
14 permit an exact count of the popular vote, all of which must be
15 considered in any discussion of the value of the Electoral
16 College; and
17 WHEREAS, A direct election campaign would provide an
18 incentive for more geographically and demographically diverse
19 campaigns; and
20 WHEREAS, In a direct election each and every vote would
21 count, and increased voter participation would improve the
22 quality of campaigns at the state and local level by encouraging
23 stronger candidates and a more informed electorate; and
24 WHEREAS, The American public has consistently shown through
25 polls that it supports abolition of the Electoral College;
26 therefore be it
27 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
28 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania memorialize Congress to enact
29 legislation to amend the Constitution of the United States to
30 abolish the Electoral College and to provide for the direct
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1 election of the President and Vice President of the United
2 States; and be it further
3 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
4 the presiding officers of each house of Congress and to each
5 member of Congress from Pennsylvania.
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