The bill that would have Colorado grant its electoral votes to the champ of the national popular vote in favor of president is made a beeline for Gov. Jared Polis’ work area after it passed its last House vote Thursday morning.
HB19-042 , the National Popular Vote bill, passed the House in a 34-29 vote, with six Democrats voting against the measure. Zero Republicans bolstered the bill in the Senate or the House as it passed the two chambers.
On the off chance that Gov. Polis signs the bill, Colorado would join 11 different states and Washington, D.C. in the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which would become effective if states that have 270 electoral votes all join the compact.
On the off chance that Polis signs the bill, it would add Colorado’s nine electoral votes to the 172 votes from states that are now individuals from the compact . The new governor demonstrated already he would sign the bill on the off chance that it reached his work area.
The bill passed the Senate on party lines in late January. Six Democrats voted against the measure on Thursday – the greater part of whom are from purple or conservative district. They were Reps. Adrienne Benavidez (Adams Co.), Bri Buentello (Pueblo), Daneya Esgar (Pueblo), Barbara McLachlan (Durango), Marc Snyder (Manitou Springs and Donald Valdez (La Jara).
“This bill has the potential to help Americans believe that their vote matters whether you’re a rural, urban or suburban voter – through this bill every vote counts equally,” said Rep. Emily Sirota, D-Denver, who is one of the bill’s sponsors. “Coloradans shouldn’t allow a few battleground states like Florida or Ohio to be the deciders for our entire country when electing the next President of the United States.”
“The other 38 states are completely ignored by presidential campaigns,” said Senate sponsor Mike Foote, D-Lafayette. “Our president should be elected because the president appeals to the majority of the voters here in the United States. Not just the majority of voters in the 12 battle ground states.”
Republicans have pushed back against the bill this session, saying it could hurt Colorado’s capacity to be a player in future presidential elections and that it was undermining the Electoral College built up by the country’s founders.
After the bill passed the House on Thursday, a Mesa County magistrate and the commissioner and the mayor of the town of Monument recorded a proposed referendum to put the question of whether Colorado should join the compact to a statewide vote.
“This push to give Colorado’s votes for President to California and New York is harmful and undermines Colorado voters,” Monument Mayor Don Wilson said in an announcement. The proposition would need to be certified by the Secretary of State’s Office, which previously testified for HB19-042.
Be that as it may, Republicans in the Senate already offered a similar amendment to the bill while it was going through committee, which was shot down by Democrats.