The Empire State has joined the National Popular Vote compact with legislation signed Tuesday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. States that have signed on to the interstate agreement will award electoral votes for president to the candidate who receives the majority of the national popular vote. “With the passage of this legislation, New York is taking a bold step to fundamentally increase the strength and fairness of our nation’s presidential elections,” said Cuomo. “By aligning the Electoral College with the voice of the nation’s voters, we are ensuring the equality of the votes and encouraging candidates to appeal to voters in all states, instead of disproportionately focusing on early contests and swing states.”
Under the winner-take-all system, candidates for president have taken to ignoring states that are reliably Republican or Democratic, like New York, while focusing their attention and resources on a smaller group of battleground or swing states. While New York has more than 13 million voters, ranking fourth in the nation, it is last when it comes to presidential spending.
New York joins the District of Columbia and nine states in signing on to the compact — including California, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
Full Article: New York joins ‘National Popular Vote’ compact with 9 other states | SILive.com.