Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. (I, D, WF-Sag Harbor) announced Governor Cuomo signed legislation (A.4422-A/S.3149-A) that adds New York to the list of States that have joined the National Popular Vote compact. Under this interstate agreement, member states will award their electoral votes for president to the candidate who wins the national popular vote.

This legislation will allow New York State to award its 29 electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote in all 50 States plus the District of Columbia. However, this would only take effect once enough other States have passed similar legislation to make up a majority of the Electoral College’s 538 votes. New York provides a significant step towards this marker, as the compact now contains 165 of the necessary 270 electoral votes.

Thiele, a co-prime sponsor of this legislation and the very first Legislator to sponsor his own National Popular Vote legislation in New York noted, “I am thrilled Governor Cuomo has put New York State at the forefront of democracy. Every vote in every State should matter in every presidential election.”

Thiele noted that the United States is the only democracy with an indirectly elected executive. Each State’s Electoral College membership is determined based on its total congressional representation in both houses, with the District of Columbia receiving three electors. In the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, the winners were selected based upon the outcomes of elections in one state because of its weight in the Electoral College.

“One State should not have the power to determine who will be our next president, particularly when the national popular vote would have changed the result,” Assemblyman Thiele said. “This compact will ensure that the office of president is filled by a candidate who’s gained the trust and support of a majority of our nation’s voters – not a few strategic battleground states.”

The bill has now been enacted by 11 entities holding 165 electoral votes – California, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.