Resolution 130146

..Title Urging the Senate State Government Committee, the Pennsylvania Senate and the Pennsylvania General Assembly to oppose and reject Senate Bill 538 (SB 538) which seeks to change the way Pennsylvania's electoral votes for President are distributed. ..Body WHEREAS, On February 21, 2013, State Senator Dominic Pileggi, Senate Majority Leader, of the 9th Senatorial District of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in Chester and Delaware Counties, introduced SB 538, with twelve co-sponsors, which would change the way Pennsylvania's electoral votes for President are distributed; and WHEREAS, The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. The majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President. Each state's allotment of electoral votes equals the number of members in its Congressional delegation: one for each member in the House of Representatives plus two for your Senators; and WHEREAS, For Presidential elections, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has 20 Electoral Votes; and WHEREAS, Under this legislation, 18 of the 20 Electoral Votes would be awarded based on the percentage of votes the candidates draw in the statewide popular vote and the other two votes would go to the overall winner; and WHEREAS, Most states have a "winner-take-all" system that awards all electors to the winning presidential candidate; and WHEREAS, Only two states, Maine and Nebraska, out of fifty have a variation of proportional representation; and WHEREAS, SB 538 seeks to disenfranchise the voters of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by changing the Electoral College process which was set by the Founding Fathers in the United States Constitution; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby urge the Senate State Government Committee, the Pennsylvania Senate and the Pennsylvania General Assembly to oppose and reject Senate Bill 538 (SB 538) which seeks to change the way Pennsylvania's electoral votes for President are distributed. FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Chief Clerk shall forward a certified copy of this Resolution to the Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the Pennsylvania Senate, the Majority and Minority Chairs of the Pennsylvania Committee on State Government and to all members of the Senate delegation representing the City of Philadelphia as evidence of this Council's support of this legislation. ..End