Letter to the Florida House of Representatives Elections Committee

FLORIDA
​
Re: HB 67
Chair Fabricio, Vice-Chair Barnaby and members of the Ethics, Elections and Open
Government Subcommittee:

As you consider HB 67-proposing that the Sunshine State join the National Popular Vote
Interstate Compact (NPVIC), please keep the following in mind.

America doesn’t have national elections and we don’t have a peoples’ president. Unlike
Canada, where the central government created the provinces, in America it is the states
that ratified the Constitution and birthed the federal government. Federalism, of course,
is a formal power sharing agreement stipulated in the Constitution, with subsequent
amendments and Supreme Court rulings flowing from it. The Constitution vests in the
States the authority for election processes.

Electoral College is a Key Part of Checks and Balances
The Electoral College is but one layer in America’s elegant election infrastructure.
Among other things it provides for transparency by building a legal wall around each
State as a safeguard against election irregularities in any other state.

Americans remember the 2020 election controversies in a handful of states (Arizona,
Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin). Thanks to the Electoral
College, election night tallies in the 20 bordering States, including Florida, but also: New
Mexico, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Indiana, California, Idaho,
Oregon, Utah, New York, Ohio, Maryland, West Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, Illinois,
Iowa and Minnesota, were unaffected by those disagreements.

The Trifecta Blue States that have joined the Compact have done so in violation of their
own state constitutions. The FLORIDA STATE CONSTITUTION, ARTICLE 7, SECTION 2,
stipulates: ”Electors.—Only a citizen of the United States who is at least eighteen years
of age and who is a permanent resident of the state, if registered as provided by law,
shall be an elector of the county where registered.”

NPV Confiscates Florida's Votes!
But wait. NPVIC proposes to confiscate the electoral votes from Florida—votes cast to
represent your eligible voters alone--and hand them off to the winner of votes cast by
hundreds of millions of people, none of whom meet Florida’s eligibility requirements.

Essentially NPVIC could turn Florida electors into the equivalent of “faithless electors.”
National Public Radio (July 2023) reported on the 2020 Supreme Court ruling in Chifalo v
Washington, saying, " Writing for the court, Justice Elena Kagan ... said Electoral
College delegates have no ground for reversing the statewide popular vote.” This runs
headlong into what the NPVIC scheme proposes.

Legislatures ARE Required to Obey State and Federal Constitutions
In the SCOTUS Moore v Harper (June 2023) decision, the Court ruled, among other things, that: Legislatures ARE constrained by the Federal AND State Constitutions, and; Both State and Federal Courts DO have the authority "and the obligation"; to step in (when a valid lawsuit exists) and
overturn actions by the Legislature that violate either the State or Federal Constitutions
when it comes to Federal elections.

No lawsuits have been filed against NPVIC at this time because the Compact has failed
to take effect. If that ever happens the legal challenges will come down like a ton of
bricks. Let’s hope Florida, and the country, never need to be put through such an ordeal.

Please do not advance HB 67.

Respectfully,

Roberta L. Schlechter
Portland, OR