Requires electors to vote for the presidential and vice presidential candidates in a manner representing the plurality of votes in each congressional district; provides that two electoral votes shall be given to the statewide winner and one electoral vote shall be given to each congressional district based on the plurality of votes in such district.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4401
SPONSOR: Molitor TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the election law, in relation to requiring electors to
vote for the presidential and vice presidential candidates in a manner
representing the plurality of votes in each congressional district
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill requires that the New York electoral votes be allocated based
on the popular vote in each congressional district, with two at large
electoral representatives casting their electoral vote for the statewide
winner.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Amends section 12-106 of the Election Law to state that two
electoral votes for the Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates
shall be given the statewide winners and one electoral vote shall be
given for the winners in each congressional district.
Section 2. The legislation would take effect immediately upon adoption.
JUSTIFICATION:
The president and vice-president of the United States are selected by
the Electoral College, which consists of one vote for every congression-
al district and two votes (just as two Senators represent each state).
Under current law, the New York State presidential and vice-presidential
winners of the statewide popular vote receive all the electoral votes
for New York State, regardless of their margin of victory. This approach
is the antithesis of selecting the president and vice-president by popu-
lar vote because it ignores, all the popular votes cast for the second-
place winners. The practical effect of the current system is to disen-
franchise millions of voters.
The current approach is also the antithesis of a popular election of
president and vice-president. If every state cast its electoral votes in
proportion to the statewide votes,' the electoral college would more
closely match the popular vote. Instead, the current system distorts the
popular vote by casting all the electoral votes for the statewide winner
regardless of the popular vote within the state. Thus, a presidential
candidate who wins by a very small margin within the State nevertheless
would receive all the electoral votes from the State.
The current approach also minimizes the role of New York State voters in
selecting the president and vice-president. Since New York City Demo-
crats dominate statewide elections, neither presidential candidate
spends any or effort courting upstate New York voters.
Two other States currently allocate their electoral votes based on the
popular vote within the State, Maine and Nebraska.
New York should provide national leadership in allocating its electoral
votes in proportion to the popular within the State.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A1938 2024 - Referred to Election Law
A4895 2022 - Referred to Election Law
A11151 2020 - Referred to Election Law
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately after adoption.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4401
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 4, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. MOLITOR -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Election Law
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to requiring electors to
vote for the presidential and vice presidential candidates in a manner
representing the plurality of votes in each congressional district
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 12-106 of the election law, as amended by chapter
2 215 of the laws of 2024, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 12-106. Electoral college; vote of the electors. Immediately after
4 the organization of the electoral college, the electors shall then and
5 there vote by ballot for president and vice president, but no elector
6 shall vote for more than one person who is a resident of this state.
7 Two electoral votes shall be given to the statewide winner and one elec-
8 toral vote shall be given to each congressional district based on the
9 plurality of votes in such district. They shall name in separate ballots
10 the persons voted for as president and vice president. They shall make
11 and sign six certificates of vote of all the votes given by them, each
12 of which certificates shall contain two distinct lists, one with the
13 votes for president and one with the votes for vice president. There
14 shall be annexed to each of the certificates of vote one of the lists of
15 electors which shall have been furnished to them by the state board of
16 elections pursuant to section 12-102 of this title. They shall seal up
17 the certificates of vote so made and certify upon each that the lists of
18 all the votes of this state given for president and vice president are
19 contained therein.
20 Notwithstanding any other section of law besides title four of this
21 article, each elector shall cast [his or her] such elector's ballot for
22 president and vice president for the candidates for these offices who
23 were nominated by the political party that nominated the presidential
24 elector. Refusal or failure to vote for the candidates for president and
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04479-01-5
A. 4401 2
1 vice president who were nominated by the political party that nominated
2 the presidential elector shall constitute a resignation from the office
3 of elector, and any such vote by an elector shall not be recorded. The
4 ballots used by the elector shall bear the name of the elector. The
5 remaining electors shall forthwith fill the vacancy in accordance with
6 section 12-104 of this title. Nothing in this subdivision shall be
7 interpreted as modifying or repealing title four of this article, the
8 agreement among the states to elect the president by national popular
9 vote.
10 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to all
11 electors for all elections occurring on and after such date.
