Sample of a 2021 Letter to Lawmakers

"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. As you evaluate the bill on behalf of The Sunflower State, please consider the following. 
 
I offer an addendum for those who seek greater detail.
 
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. Under NPV it would have been 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
 
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.” 
 
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