OREGON: Senate Votes To Bypass Electoral College

Williamette Week reports:

In a contentious hearing today, Oregon senators voted 17-12 to pass a National Popular Vote bill. Should Senate Bill 870 gain approval from the state’s House of Representatives, Oregon will enter an interstate compact to award its Electoral College votes to the presidential candidate who receives the most votes nationwide.

So far, 15 states have passed national popular vote legislation, representing 189 electoral votes. In order to take effect, the compact needs approval from enough states to account for a majority of the Electoral College, or 270 votes.

Sen. Dennis Linthicum (R-Klamath Falls) ignited controversy during the hearing for saying that bill represents a “lack of understanding about the founding of the United States,” and suggesting that the three-fifths compromise “was actually to eliminate the overwhelming influence the slave states would have in representative government.”