Roberta's Ideas
Roberta Schlechter
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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.
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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 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. After the intro I insert the text from the sample letter to Legislators. Feel free to copy or use them as a launching point for your own expressions. Letter 1. - SUPPORT A PRO-ELECTORAL COLLEGE BILL Bill#___ - Please Advance Chair _______ and members of the _____________ Committee: In a little over a page, the language of (bill #) fully justifies (state) defending the ELECTORAL COLLEGE against NPV, the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, or any other scheme to splinter our presidential election process. For over a decade NPV backers have campaigned against the Constitution, our election infrastructure, state autonomy, the citizenry AND future lawmakers. State legislatures need to step up and defend their constitutional authority over presidential Electors, to reject NPV directly. As you evaluate the bill on behalf of The Grand Canyon State, please consider the following. I offer an attachment for those who seek greater detail. CLOSING: Say YES to the ELECTORAL COLLEGE ... and YES to the United STATES (BILL #) defends our elections infrastructure. Without the Electoral College our power-sharing system begins to break apart. A friend put 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.” One miracle of America is that every state has 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 advance (BILL #) Letter 2. - SUPPORT A BILL TO WITHDRAW FROM NPV https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/state-status Bill #___ – Please Advance Chair ________ and members of the __________ Committee: # years ago, NPV, the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, was a new idea. (State’s) legislature was among the earliest to sign on to NPV. In 2021 the Compact still falls short of implementation by a critical number of states, and its weaknesses are well-known. A friend put 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.” Bill # from your colleagues (names), gives you the opportunity to take another look at NPV. So on behalf of (state nickname), please consider the following… I offer an attachment for those who seek greater detail. CLOSING Say YES to the United STATES with a NO to NPV (state) is one of multiple blue states considering bills to EXIT NPV. And lawmakers in other non-Compact states are taking steps to impede NPV if it were to reach the 270-electoral vote trigger. The Electoral College is part of America’s DNA and a key safeguard for our presidential election infrastructure. It forces candidates to gain support from multiple regions of the country. For an economy as diverse as (state’s), this is a good thing! Being a sovereign state is important. Bill #___ would restore (state’s) place in all future presidential elections. THE. STATES. MATTER. Please advance (Bill #) Letter #3: In Support of a "Poison Pill" Bill SB 2271-PLEASE SUPPORT Chair Kasper and members of the Government-Veterans Affairs Committee: As you consider SB 2271, for the purposes of context, allow me to call to your attention the North Dakota State of Emergency EO 2020-03, issued in response to the Covid outbreak. Without doubt states assume enormous responsibility toward circumstances that threaten the citizenry. Last year’s EO lays out the rationale for said action. Permit me to offer the same in defense of SB2271, an emergency bill itself. I attach an addendum for those wishing more information. Whereas: 1)The Constitution establishes America as a REPUBLIC and the Tenth Amendment establishes FEDERALISM as America’s foundational power-sharing relationship, 2) The Constitution declares elections to be STATE actions, and names state legislatures as having plenary (unchallenged) authority for naming presidential Electors, corresponding to the state-wide presidential popular vote, and 3) NPV-National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (if enacted) would nationalize the vote and supersede that authority even if North Dakota never joins the Compact... It is essential and proper for the Legislature here and in many other states to prepare an emergency measure on your citizens behalf. SB 2271 is that measure. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is designed to take effect if sufficient states join to amass at least 270 electoral votes, the number needed to elect a President. Should that happen—and we hope it never does--the “emergency” or “poison pill” provisions of SB 2271 would withhold the actual vote count and instead publish presidential vote percentages in advance of the ELECTORAL COLLEGE vote. The Compact hinges on being able to say that “Candidate A” got a specific number of votes nationally, as did “Candidate B,” etc. But in the purest sense, North Dakota’s specific popular vote counts are North Dakota’s business! This bill formalizes that position to protect the state in the event of an NPV emergency. Only the Electoral College gives every state a seat at the table when we elect our national Chief Executive. SB 2271 reiterates North Dakota’s defense of the Electoral College--part of America’s DNA and a key safeguard for our presidential election infrastructure. Your citizens, and a country as large and diverse as the United States, deserve no less. THE. STATES. MATTER. |
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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