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Roberta Schlechter
NW Region Director & Volunteer Keep Our 50 States Oregon Roberta Schlechter is a former legislative staffer in Oregon and Northwest Region (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon & Washington) Director of the Michigan-based KEEP OUR 50 STATES. She has advocated against the National Popular Vote since 2008. |
Roberta Schlechter
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 What follows is mostly fantasy. I imagine myself called to testify before that completely skewed Michigan House Committee on Elections--and I’m told I have 30 seconds to give my testimony. So here goes.
My 30-Second 'Elevator Speech' that Defends our Electoral College “Respectfully, Madam Chair, God is God, and we are not. The Electoral College is so elegantly embedded in the fabric of America’s election infrastructure, which is the exclusive purview of the sovereign states… ALL the sovereign states equally ... that sooner or later, this National Popular Vote scheme, which is too cute by half, must experience either a total meltdown or death by 1,000 papercuts, and then assume its rightful place on the Ash Heap of History.”
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 The Michigan Capitol Building in downtown Lansing, Michigan. Dear Representative Kunse,
Before you vote for HB 4156-NPVIC--putting control of your presidential electors into the hands of voters elsewhere... take a look at your own state constitution. Roberta Schlechter, for KEEP OUR 50 STATES -- ARTICLE II Elections § 1 Qualifications of electors; residence. Sec. 1. Every citizen of the United States who has attained the age of 18 years, who has resided in this state six months, and who meets the requirements of local residence provided by law, shall be an elector and qualified to vote in any election except as otherwise provided in this constitution. The legislature shall define residence for voting purposes. -- Reply from Rep. Tom Kunse, R-100th District 7/18/2023 Hello! Thank you for taking the time to contact my office regarding the Electoral College. I am dedicated to protecting election integrity in Michigan and across the nation. I have been researching and carefully considering my stance because this is not a small matter. I have decided against supporting the National Popular Vote. Please do not hesitate to reach out to my office with questions or concerns. Yours in Lansing, Tom Kunse State Representative Michigan’s 100th House District -- My note of appreciation to Rep. Kunse 7/18/2023 Dear Rep. Kunse: I am elated to learn that you will support continuation of the Electoral College, and the best interests of your constituents. Thank you, Respectfully Roberta Schlechter “As for your neighbor, North Dakota; Does it have less right to exist as a state than Minnesota?”7/17/2023  I’d like to respond to Community Voices contributor Beth Anderson’s letter congratulating Minnesota on giving away the control of their Electoral Votes to NON-Minnesotans (“Minnesota Joins National Popular Vote Compact” July 15, 2023)*.
First, what is it that really builds “community”? Is it raw numbers? Under the Electoral College system, the successful presidential candidate builds support from multiple groupings of states and regions. People self-identify by neighborhood values and constituencies. We “vote” with our feet and pocketbooks and dreams for our children. While America conducts all elections via a “one-person/one vote” process—with every state conducting two popular elections each cycle--America is not a pure democracy; we don’t have a “peoples’ president.” Rather, we are a Constitutional Republic wrapped around a federation of sovereign states (US Constitution, Article IV, and Section 4: “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government...” POTUS stands for "President of the United STATES," i.e., the Executive of the federation. Disclaimers are Needed Whenever there is mention of presidents being elected who “did not win the popular vote,” it needs to come with a disclaimer: No American president has ever been elected by popular vote. Election by Electoral College is not an “inversion.” Rather, it is exclusively built into the American electoral infrastructure. As for your neighbor, North Dakota; does it have less right to exist as a state than Minnesota? Are their 3 electors less than Minnesota’s 10? So how is a Minnesota voter disadvantaged by the 3 electoral votes of its neighbor, or any other sparsely populated state? (By the way, North Dakota’s legislature has repeatedly said No to the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.) And could the average New Yorker even find the City of Savage on a map? But now that Minnesota legislators have pulled the state into the Compact, voters need to learn about the potential downside. If the Compact ever takes effect (having survived Constitutional challenges--spoiler alert), Minnesota voters may get to watch the candidate they rejected, win the national vote and then swallow up Minnesota’s 10 electoral votes. Does that sound like a way to build “community”? State Lines Matter Finally, Anderson speaks of “blurring the lines” between states as being a good thing. But state “lines” matter. They define everything about how/where we live our lives: neighborhoods, taxes, and education standards, just to name a few. How many North Dakotans would trade places with their deep blue neighbors? A few might look longingly in your direction (and vice versa) on election night. If desire and opportunity are strong enough, people can and do relocate. California used to be red and Texas used to be blue. Regardless, every election the Electoral College strengthens the walls around each state and keeps election irregularities in one state from polluting the process in any other. Speaking of irregularities ... allowing Minnesota’s electoral votes to be controlled by the actions of out-of-state voters probably runs afoul of Article VII of your own state Constitution. Roberta Schlechter - NW Region Director & Volunteer Keep Our 50 States (Oregon). She has advocated against the National Popular Vote since 2008. Downloads for reprinting this article are available at our Resources/Handouts page.  US Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, supports the National Popular Vote scheme and any other efforts that will end the Electoral College. This is my response to the opinion column placed by long-time paid National Popular Vote Compact salesman and lobbyist Saul Anuzis. His article appeared in The Georgia Virtue, "NPV is a Win for Conservatives ...", in Georgia in June 2023.
-- Op-Ed Response: “...This agreement shall terminate if the electoral college is abolished...” So states the legislation Saul Anuzis (June 16 guest columnist) would like us all to embrace, the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, or NPVIC. When I first heard of the Compact about 15 years ago, I approached it with the perspective of a 3-term legislative staffer in Oregon. I’ve steadily followed the legislation and lobbied against it, on my own nickel, individually and as a member of grassroots organizations. What is the NPVIC and How does it Work? Here’s how NPV is designed to work. The “Compact” would take effect if enough states join to equal 270 electoral votes, the number needed to elect a President. If that happens, and the Georgia legislature signs on as a Compact state, the national vote winner would take command of Georgia’s presidential electors, literally overriding the state general election vote. From the bill text: ARTICLE III - MANNER OF APPOINTING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS IN MEMBER STATES: “... The chief election official of each member state shall designate the presidential slate with the largest national popular vote total as the "national popular vote winner." Continuing: “...the presidential candidate on the presidential slate that has been designated as the national popular vote winner shall have the power to nominate the presidential electors for that state...” For context, every Compact state to date is a “trifecta Blue state” where Democrats control the state house and both legislative chambers. And please dismiss suggestions of “bipartisan” support. Every Red states across the country has repeatedly voted “No.” Some have amended their state constitutions to protect the Electoral College system. Since 2007, a total of 1,390 Democrat legislators have voted for NPV, along with a grand total of 115 Republicans, 102 of them in the blue states of Illinois and New York. The NPVIC automatically ends when the Electoral College is Abolished. Wait-WHAT?!! So let’s consider the Electoral College, whose abolishment alone would bring this scheme to an end. It is woven within a Constitutionally protected election infrastructure. Among other things, it builds a protective wall around every state, so that election irregularities in any state cannot spill over and pollute the process in any other state. I recognize that Georgia’s 2020 vote count got pretty unpleasant. But give me just a moment. Five neighboring states touch Georgia’s borders. Yet none of them were drawn into the 2020 controversy, which Georgia by itself resolved. But if Georgia joins the Compact, your vote count would always be diluted by votes spilling from California to New York. How many? In 2020 the current Compact states cast 59.8 million votes, all on the blue side. And regardless of Georgia’s preferences in any given election, it would always be this way. NPV's False Claim of "Making Every Voter Equal" To that point, NPV makes the claim that under the Compact “every vote is of equal value in our process.” The question is, equal to what? Would you rather a Georgia voter’s choice for President be 1 in 4.997 million, as it was in 2020, or 1 in the national tally of 158 million? The question becomes, how NPV would make YOUR vote “more equal” in ANY way that matters to Georgia? Finally please consider this NPV bill language: “Sec. 4. When the agreement among the states to elect the President by national popular vote governs the appointment of presidential electors, the provisions of the agreement take precedence over any conflicting law of this state.” In one gulp NPV seeks to swallow up any and all related state laws and run headlong into your own state Constitution (Article 2, Section 1). No untested innovation should command such a power grab. Roberta Schlechter Portland, OR Las Vegas, May 27, 2023 - Commentary: Flawed Popular Vote Compact is Wrong Move for Nevada, by Jasper Hendricks, The Las Vegas Review-Journal
May 29, 2023 To: Members of the Assembly, I hope you will share this editorial to help educate people on what a disaster National Popular Vote would be for all Nevadans. To dissolve the Electoral College safeguards that protect voters in each state from voting irregularities in every other state... in the name of some completely untested utopian pipe dream... would be an absolute tragedy. Roberta Schlechter KEEP OUR 50 STATES Editor's Note: In addition to Roberta's short letter, the Commentary published by Jasper Hendricks above is very well written!  Alaska State Capitol Building in Juneau, AK National Popular Vote Plan Wastes Alaska's Time! Honorable Senators: I’m old enough to remember when The Last Frontier became America’s 49th state. It was a big deal. Alaska is still a big deal, very much in a class by itself. Your state ratified the Constitution back in 1959, and every day since, your unique voice and influence in presidential elections have been safeguarded by the Electoral College. It secures your borders against vote spillover and election irregularities from anywhere else. Until 2006 states could take this for granted. But then some California really deep pockets began pushing something they call “National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.” It’s embodied in SB61, now in the Rules Committee. I hope you will not advance the bill. Permit me to explain. National Popular Votes are Rarely Used to Elect Nations' Chief Executives I’m a former legislative staffer (OR) and have lobbied against NPV, on my own nickel, for over a decade. These guys are smooth talking pros making boatloads of $$$. Their spiel is well honed. But to this day a national presidential vote has NO HOME in any major country. National votes for Chief Executive happen in: Angola, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, The Gambia, Honduras, Iceland, Kiribati, Malawi, Mexico, Nicaragua, Palestine, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Rwanda, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Tanzania and Venezuela. (Wikipedia, "First Past the Post Voting") Of this list, 11 countries have populations under 10M. The remaining are either monolithic, unstable, and/or dictatorships. NONE are regarded as America is by the rest of the free world. By any measure this is NOT who we are. A colleague observes: “A national popular vote discounts the individual. This is where the weird math comes in; if you dilute the whole, and do not account for the small, then your results become skewed. This is how Third World dictators hold ‘NATIONAL’ elections and always win.” Bingo. NPV is a scheme to render the Electoral College, AND state borders, as mere props. How? If the Compact pulls in enough states to equal 270 electoral votes—the number required to name a President, those states commit to hand over their own electors to the national winner... REGARDLESS of what that means to their own voters. Forget the villages, towns and cities, and local leaders. Their vote, and voice, would be swept away. National Popular Vote Erodes even MORE of Alaska's Sovereignty Before going further, let me acknowledge that more than once the federal government has stuck its nose pretty deep into Alaska’s business. I wouldn’t be surprised if this makes you skeptical of any erosion of state sovereignty. Just imagine if NPV rendered the STATE of Alaska defenseless in the presidential vote count. Did you know: The Constitution requires state electors to meet in their own state and on the same day, BY DESIGN. That’s because the Founders did not want the electors colluding with each other. They wanted each State's votes to be cast as independently as possible. That’s how clearly NPV runs contrary to our Constitutional model. Since 2007 when the first state (Maryland) adopted the Compact, NPVIC has been defeated at least once in 35 different states, including Alaska. In 177 recorded legislative attempts, NPV bills have a win-loss record of 18-158. (One 'attempt' is one or more NPV Compact bills introduced in a 2-year Legislative session. These 35 Non-NPV State Legislatures have TURNED DOWN the NPV compact scheme an average of 4.5 times each.) (Editor's Update, June 2023: Sixteen (16) States, plus DC, have joined the NPV Compact. The Nevada Legislature, in May 2023, took Step 1 in NPV's first-ever attempt to sidestep a Republican Governor's potential veto by voting to place the NPV scheme in the State Constitution. A different Nevada Legislature must now also pass the measure (in 2025 or later) and then the measure would go before Nevada voters. We credit the NPV lobbyists with their 18th legislative win for that, though 16 States, plus DC, have joined the NPV compact.) Most lawmakers understand that the decisions of their state and its voters must not be outsourced. NPV Makes Voters UNEQUAL A standard NPV claim is that under the Compact “every vote is of equal value in our process.” The question is, equal to WHAT? In 2020 an Alaska citizen’s vote for President was 1 in 359,530. Under NPVIC, it would have been 1 in 158 million! So how exactly is it that NPVIC would make your constituents “more equal” in ANY way that matters? THE POLITICS: NPV backers have nabbed a lot of the ‘low hanging fruit,’ those trifecta (blue) states. Meanwhile, states in flyover country consistently say NO to this scheme... even though they’re the people NPV claims the Electoral College leaves behind. Frankly, these smooth talkers are salivating over what Alaska could do for THEM. You would be a plum victory and allow them to say that “NPV has bi- partisan support.” From 2015-2019 to date, NPV received exactly FOUR GOP lawmaker ‘yes’ votes. (Editor's Update, June 2023: From 2016-2023 to date, in the seven (7) States that have enacted the NPV scheme, NPV received exactly FOUR (4) GOP lawmaker ‘yes’ votes (1%), while 451 Democrat lawmakers (99%) have voted to enact it.) Lacking precedent, NPV backers continue to weave their utopian feel-good fairy tale. Please turn them away as unqualified to waste Alaskans’ time. Respectfully, Roberta Schlechter, NW Region Director Volunteer for KEEP OUR 50 STATES.  (Editor's Note: This chart was added in June 2023, following Minnesota's enacting the NPV compact in May 2023, and Nevada's Legislature advancing an NPV State Constitutional amendment proposal one step, also in May.) I attach this to each email. Lawmakers can read it if they like. It’s easier to edit/update the addendum than the main message. Feel free to pick and choose what you want to include.
BILL # ___ - ADDITIONAL INFORMATION provided by Roberta Schlechter WHAT IS NPV: Every four years each state holds a popular vote for President. States that join the NPV Compact make a future commitment to throw out their results when STATE voters disagree with the national popular vote winner. But first, enough states must join the Compact to total the 270 electoral votes required to win the presidency. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen. WHAT IS THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE: The Electoral College is the group of representatives (Electors) chosen in each state to cast the official ballots (electoral votes) for President and Vice President of the United States. Each state gets as many Electors as it has members of the U.S. House and Senate—the math is the same as in Congress. HISTORY AND CONTEXT: Our Founders set out to birth a republic of STATES built on federalism—resilient self-governance. They created a 3-part federal infrastructure. The US Congress both reflects the populous and gives agency to the states. Our elections infrastructure does the same. The result: since 1914 the Electoral College has given us 15 Democrat and 15 GOP presidents! A parallel example is the Senate filibuster rule. The rule embraces minority viewpoints and fosters consensus. In the same way the Electoral College forces presidential candidates to win in multiple parts of the country--just as our Founders envisioned. They rejected a “pure” democracy --“Two wolves and a sheep voting on what’s for dinner.” The Constitution empowers state legislatures to determine HOW Electors are selected. In 48 states and DC, all Electors are chosen based on the statewide vote—a “winner-take-all” system. However in Maine and Nebraska, one Elector is elected in each Congressional District and the remaining two are elected based on the statewide vote. If citizens of a state are unhappy with the selection process used, they can lobby the legislature to change it. Simplistic notions about “SWING” states don’t hold up. In 2020 the progressive group Marie Claire identified 12 states that “tend to flip between red and blue each election cycle.” Except that half of them did not! The Heritage Foundation reports that since 1968, 34 out of 50 states have been labeled as swing states. “However,” it goes on to say, “with rare exceptions, established urban centers … will always have large populations that vote in a predictable fashion.” Guess which voters candidates would chase without Electoral College influence. POTUS Represents the STATES but does NOT govern the people. POTUS stands for “President of the UNITED STATES.” The Constitution--which every state has ratified--makes no allowances for direct election of a president. By its own admission, NPV would push America toward a “Peoples’ President,” side-stepping the states. Imagine a future when multiple candidates chase a plurality of the vote. This splintering opens the door to national recounts. Worse, it points to more power/influence flowing away from the states, to be swallowed up by the bloated federal bureaucracy.  Editor's Update: This map showing the revised Electoral Vote Count for each State was added, following the official changes that took place in 2022, after the 2020 Census was completed. Add Specificity to Your Letters
Here are some links that I use to add specificity to many of my letters:
The first link - States Ranked by Population - helps give perspective to a State’s population relative to the US. FOR EXAMPLE, Michigan is ranked #10 in the country. But the first 9 states account for 168 MILLION people! And Michigan is only slightly larger than Los Angeles County alone, with a population of 9.8 million. To calculate a state’s % of total US population, just divide the state population by the US total of 327,533,795. The second link - about Metropolitan Areas - is useful when writing lawmakers in medium to large-sized blue states. It’s a bit tricky because the metro areas frequently cross state lines (i.e., Portland, OR-Vancouver, WA). I only mention metro areas that fall exclusively within the state. The Top Industries List offers some surprises about each state. It supports the argument that we benefit from the EC’s requirement that successful candidates gain support from multiple regions of the country, as opposed to just a few heavily populated urban areas. The cnn 2020 Presidential Election Projected Winner link equips you to compare and describe a voter's relationship to votes within their own state, versus the 1-in-151-million national count status under NPV. I like to use the State's Nickname at the beginning of a letter. It’s friendlier. The fifth link is from the National Popular Vote website. While I hate their product, their website is GREAT. It reveals their arguments and provides useful data to battle the Compact. On a regular basis be sure to check the KEEP Our 50 States Website. The Status in the States page keeps tabs on not only the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, but also each of the legislative efforts that a number of States are now taking to combat the dangerous NPVIC scheme. Where Can I Find the E-Mail Addresses of State Lawmakers? Here’s what I do: Once you know the Bill # and its status/committee assignment: Check the KeepOur50States Facebook page, OR Check the KeepOur50States website Regions or Status in the States pages. Scroll down to “Pending NPV Legislation”. We also have a separate State Page for each of the 50 States, plus DC, here at Keep Our 50 States, and each State Page has links to each Legislature's site page that includes the Contact information for every Lawmaker currently in office in that State. OR Google the State Legislature website. Click on "House" or "Senate" and find the Committee page. Follow the link to the list of committee members. Click on the member's name, go to that member's site, and do 1 of 2 things: fill in the embedded email page, OR copy and past ALL emails into the "bcc" of a clean email form on your gmail page. Click on each "Please Vote NO"
Re: SB-188 - Please vote No. Chair Alley and members of the Federal and State Affairs Committee: There’s an old Sunday school tune, “The wise one built a house upon the rock … The foolish one built a house upon the sand…” SB 188, calling for Kansas to impose the NPV-National Popular Vote Interstate Compact on its citizenry AND future legislators, would drag America’s election infrastructure off its foundation. While the Founders wanted states to function as effective counterweights against the central government, NPV would marginalize their voice and influence. A friend puts it this way: “A national popular vote discounts the individual. This is where weird math comes in; if you dilute the whole, and do not account for the small, then your results become skewed . This is how Third World dictators hold NATIONAL elections and always win.” As you evaluate the bill on behalf of The Sunflower State, please consider the following. I offer an addendum for those wanting more information. NATIONAL POPULAR VOTE is a BAD FIT for Kansas SPECIFICS: With a 2018 population of about 3.0 million, Kansas ranks #36 in the US, with just 0.9% of the total US population. ONLY the Electoral College gives Kansas a voice in presidential elections. In 2020 a Kansan's vote was 1 out of about 1.5 million other Kansans. Under NPV it would have been nationalized into 1-in-151-million! National Popular Vote is a scheme to derail the Electoral College without doing the hard work required by the Constitution. 2020 Election controversies caused embarrassing headlines … elsewhere. Do you know why Kansas residents were not caught up in them? Because your state elections officials ran a clean vote count and the Electoral College keeps your election product separated from all other states and their problems. If you pass SB 188, and the Compact ever takes effect, Kansas would be thrown into the mess, even if the problems come from a non-NPV member state! URGENT: Pro-NPV arguments set up smoke screens and lawmakers need to see around and through them. FEDERALISM means people are to be governed where they live. You and your colleagues will ALWAYS be elected by LOCAL voters. And while they may possess US passports, Kansas is “home.” NPV obligates future lawmakers to face RELINQUISHING AUTHORITY over their own state electors… to distance their own voters from the votes they cast. Imagine having to explain that to your constituents. Say NO to NPV and YES to the United STATES Sovereign states in a federated republic are America’s house built upon the rock. SB 188 threatens to crumble our electoral foundation and make Kansas less influential overall. The Electoral College is part of America’s DNA and gives every state a seat at the table when our Chief Executive is chosen. A country as large and diverse as the United States deserves no less. THE. STATES. MATTER. Please do not advance SB 188. Respectfully, Roberta Schlechter |
Roberta SchlechTerA decade ago when I first learned about the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, I knew I needed to work hard against it and help inform lawmakers about the pitfalls of this Agreement among a few States. 
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