LETTERS OF SUPPORT FOR HB193 2/9/18
There are 22 sample letters all together. The numbered title is for the subject line of the email to your legislator, below that is the email/letter text. Please modify and personalize to suit your needs:
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1. It's Utah's right
Under the Constitution, Utah has the right to decide how to distribute its electoral votes. I know it may be difficult given the current political climate, but I urge you to pass the National Popular Vote (HB 193) out of Committee. Help make Utah relevant for the first time since the 1964 presidential campaign!
With highest regards,
2. HB 193 gets Utah its share of the election pie
Please support passage of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact out of Committee and make the whole country a battleground nation where to win, candidates have to go everywhere, including Utah, to get every vote they can!
With sincere thanks,
3. I won’t have to move to a battleground state
The winner-take-all system of the Electoral College could be one of the most powerful voter suppression tools in existence. Imagine yourself being a Republican in a “blue” state. How long before you’d quit voting for president? The only real chance of having your vote for president count is to live in a battleground state.
Please, pass HB 193 out of committee; I don’t want to have to move to Colorado to make my vote for president count.
Sincerely,
4. The National Popular Vote law is a state’s rights law
National Popular Vote aligns with the principles of Federalism and the balance of power between the states and the federal government, by preserving Utah’s exclusive right as a state to determine for ourselves how to choose our own electors. A national popular vote will demand that the future president come to us, not the other way around, listen to us and take our issues into consideration when forming national policies.
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Please pass HB 193 out of committee to the floor of the House.
Sincerely yours,
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5. There’s a popular vote for governor, why not for president?
Every voter in Utah gets their vote counted for governor, why shouldn’t every voter in America get their vote counted for president? Every Republican’s vote, just like every Democrat’s and every Independent’s vote, becomes stronger when it joins the larger pool of others like it across the whole country. Why is the election for President the only election that’s not a direct vote?
Please support the national popular vote bill (HB 193) for passage out of Committee.
Thank you for all you do for Utah,
6. Utah Republican or Democrat, my vote doesn't matter in presidential campaigns
In Utah if someone votes Republican, it’s overkill - a vote for a Democrat is a waste of time. Please, make my vote (and yours for that matter) count by turning the whole country into a battleground state, where our vote is as important as a vote in Colorado or Florida.
Pass the National Popular Vote Bill (HB 193) out of committee to the floor of the House.
Thank you so much,
7. This is a matter of national security
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We all now know Russia is very interested in influencing our elections and we know from history that under the current winner-take-all system, it takes just a few hundred disputed votes in one battleground state to change the outcome the entire presidential election. An equal number of suppressed or disputed votes in a direct election would have no effect on the outcome where over 130 million votes are cast.
Please, support passage of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (HB 193) out of committee, it's a matter of national security.
Sincerely,
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8. HB 193 gives Utah a choice
This was in the Salt Lake Tribune last December about National Popular Vote:
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"...now Utah has a choice. Will it put the “redness” of its electoral votes above the diverse preferences of its individual voters? Will it maintain an electoral system that disenfranchises masses of its own voters election after election - that makes voting a waste of time for the majority because they know it’s overkill, and for the minority too because they know it’s a lost cause? Or will it choose a new way that makes every vote in Utah relevant by very simply awarding the presidency to the candidate with the most votes everywhere?"
Sounds good to me. Do you want your vote to count? I do. Please support passage of HB 193 out of committee.
With great respect,
9. Constitutional Amendment not required with HB 193
We don’t need a constitutional amendment to reform the Electoral College. All we need is to legally replace one state law (winner-take-all) with another (National Popular Vote). Please pass HB 193 out of committee and get Utah the attention it deserves in presidential elections by making Utah voters relevant in every presidential election.
Thank you very much for all you do for Utah,
10. Take gambling out of Utah with HB 193
Did you know that in 2004, if John Kerry had won another 59,000 votes in Ohio, he would have won the Electoral College even though George Bush had a 3.2 million vote lead in the popular vote? It’s only a toss of the dice away before winner-take-all goes against a Republican candidate.
Is that how we should elect our President… by a crapshoot? Please support the passage of National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (HB 193) out of committee.
Respectfully yours,
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11. Say goodbye to flyover state status with HB 193
With National Popular Vote, Utah can say goodbye to flyover state status forever. Over a million of us voted in 2016, for a presidential candidate, that’s worth showing up for! Imagine how many more if everyone knew their vote counted.
Make Utah part of a battleground nation and it’s a good bet voter turn out, Republican and Democratic, will go up when the race for president is a real competition.
Please pass the National popular vote (HB 193) out of committee this session and let the House talk this over.
All the best,
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12. HB 193 makes Utah strong
There was a forum at Weber state in January where one of the speakers said that in 2004 Bush won the popular vote by holding Kerry to a near tie in the 12 largest states, while maintaining his lead of around 3 million in the 38 smaller states and D.C.
Those 39 smaller states (Utah included) gave Bush the 2004 popular vote victory, not the 12 biggest states. Seems to me that what dominates elections, is the candidate, not big or small states.
Please support passage of HB 193 out of committee.
Sincerely yours,
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13. HB 193 won’t let just .06% of the total vote determine the presidency
In the 2016 election, just .06% of the total votes cast nationwide four counties in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania (76,000 of 137 million votes cast) flipped the Electoral College in favor of the candidate who lost the popular vote by almost 3 million votes. That’s almost exactly the population of Utah!!!
Please support passage of HB 193 out of committee and begin the process of making battleground states share their power with the rest of the country.
Respectfully,
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14. HB193 will keep the loser from winning
Our new president was one of the biggest popular vote losers ever! Something’s really not right. How is that a democratic outcome? Please support passing the National Popular Vote bill (HB 193) out of committee to the House.
With highest regards,
15. HB 193 makes it a real race!
In every election cycle across the country, votes for president are cast and counted in every state, but when the race is called, millions of votes are legally cut off before the finish line because of winner-take-all. Let’s make it a real race where the candidate with the best ideas will win the race with the most votes!
Pass the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (HB 193) out of committee and let EVERY Utahn’s vote count!
With high hopes,
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16. Tame the tyranny of the minority with HB 193
There was a forum a Weber State last month where a speaker said that just 30% of those who voted nationwide (that’s the 41 million people that voted Republican in the states that went red on the map on election night) decided for the other 70% who would be president.
The combined votes of Republicans in blue states, Democrats in red states, independents, Greens and Libertarians everywhere (over 60 million votes total) were made irrelevant just because they voted in the minority in their states.
Is winner-take-all protection of the minority, or tyranny of the minority? Please support HP 193 for passage out of committee.
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With all due respect,
17. HB 193 will bring more Utahns out to vote
It is a fact that voter registration and voter turnout go up in battleground states during presidential elections because people know their votes will matter. In 2012 and 2016 battleground states had turnout rates 11-12% above the national rate.
Is it a good thing or a bad thing that more people vote in presidential elections? If it’s a bad thing, then support the current system. If it’s a good thing, support passage of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (HB 193) out of committee.
Thank you for your service to the State of Utah,
18. Will anything change with a National Popular Vote?
This is what will change, at least on election night:
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No single state flipping red or blue will determine the outcome.
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If we have another squeaker like 2000, even the voters in Hawaii could keep the whole country awake.
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The excitement of waiting up for every single vote everywhere to be counted will be so great, will anybody care… or even notice what color a state ends up on an outdated and misleading electoral map?
I’m truly excited for the first National Popular Vote election night! Please get HB 193 to the House Floor for debate.
Thank you for your service to Utah,
19. Only liberal states have passed the National Popular Vote
Those liberal (and not so liberal) states had the help of Republicans:
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In 2011, Californian Republicans helped pass National Popular Vote with the motto: No Republican Left Behind.
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In 2014, Oklahoma’s Republican dominated state Senate passed NPV.
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In 2016, New York passed it with a Republican dominated Senate.
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In 2016, Arizona’s Republican controlled House passed NPV.
A popular vote for President is coming, support HB 193’s passage out of committee and start Utah on its way to leading, not following the rest of the nation.
Sincerely,
20. I was no fan of Hillary or Trump
2016 would have been an entirely different election under a National Popular Vote, both Clinton and Trump said so. Under a direct vote, maybe Bernie would have run as an independent and who knows? Could we have had the first independent in the White House?
In any case, how coming in second qualifies a person to be president is beyond me. Why isn’t our only national office a national vote? HB 193 – National Popular Vote Interstate Compact - sounds like a reasonable and fair solution.
Please support it and thank you,
21. My vote has never counted for president, has yours?
I first started voting in Idaho then I made Utah my home. My vote for president has NEVER mattered in a single presidential election, even when the candidate I did vote for won. If you yourself have always voted in a single party state, your vote has never be relevant either - no matter what party you belong to.
You can make my vote and yours, count in every presidential election by working to pass the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact – HB 193
Your fellow irrelevant voter,
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22. Why is Iowa more important than Utah?
I know someone from Iowa and she says there’s all kinds of presidential campaign activity there every election! Iowa has 3 million people, 6 electoral votes and are a heavily rural state like Utah. Why did Iowa get 21 presidential campaign events after the nominating conventions and Utah only got one? Because Iowa’s a battleground state and Utah’s a flyover state. Please make Utah part of a battleground nation, support National popular vote in Utah!
Pass HB 193 out of committee and thank you!