South Carolina General Assembly
124th Session, 2021-2022

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H. 3813

STATUS INFORMATION

Concurrent Resolution
Sponsors: Reps. Taylor, McGarry, Hixon, Hiott, Forrest, Pope and Ligon
Document Path: l:\council\bills\cc\15991zw21.docx

Introduced in the House on February 4, 2021
Currently residing in the House Committee on Invitations and Memorial Resolutions

Summary: Electoral college

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    2/4/2021  House   Introduced (House Journal-page 7)
    2/4/2021  House   Referred to Committee on Invitations and Memorial 
                        Resolutions (House Journal-page 7)
    2/9/2021  House   Member(s) request name added as sponsor: McGarry
   2/10/2021  House   Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Hixon, Hiott, 
                        Forrest
   3/17/2021  House   Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Pope, Ligon

View the latest legislative information at the website

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

2/3/2021

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

TO EXPRESS THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY'S UNWAVERING SUPPORT FOR THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE, AND TO URGE THE GOVERNOR AND ATTORNEY GENERAL OF SOUTH CAROLINA TO LITIGATE AGGRESSIVELY AGAINST ANY EFFORT TO REPEAL OR NULLIFY IT, INCLUDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL POPULAR VOTE INTERSTATE COMPACT.

Whereas, the founding fathers, through deliberation and compromise, devised the Electoral College to answer the nation's need for an effective voting mechanism in the presidential selection process; and

Whereas, the Electoral College is part of the United States Constitution's system of checks and balances, designed to ensure that the interests of smaller states, including states like South Carolina, are not ignored; and

Whereas, the Electoral College, as provided for in the Constitution of the United States, provides a balance between rural and urban interests by ensuring that winning candidates have support from multiple regions of the country; and

Whereas, all states, including South Carolina, currently allocate their electoral votes based on the vote of citizens within their state, which is an appropriate exercise of state legislative authority pursuant to Section 1, Article II of the United States Constitution; and

Whereas, the Founding Fathers explicitly rejected a national popular vote for president and instead created the Electoral College to ensure that the will of the majority is carried out while guaranteeing that the voices of this nation's minorities are heard; and

Whereas, the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is an effort to nullify the Constitution's state-by-state process in order to create de facto direct election for president; and

Whereas, the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact would diminish the importance of individual states in presidential elections and create the potential for nationwide recounts and federal intervention in the states' election processes; and

Whereas, under the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, a state's electoral votes could be given away to a candidate who is opposed by the majority of the state's citizens; and

Whereas, any attempt to modify the current Electoral College would jeopardize a secure system which has been effective for over two centuries in providing for a peaceful transition of presidential power. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:

That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, express unwavering support for the Electoral College and urge the Governor and Attorney General of South Carolina to litigate aggressively against any effort to repeal or nullify it, including the implementation of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.

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This web page was last updated on March 17, 2021 at 2:01 PM