The Every Vote Counts Amendment is a joint resolution to amend the United States Constitution, providing for the popular election of the president and vice president under a new electoral system. This proposed amendment would abolish the electoral college in United States presidential elections and have every presidential election determined by a plurality of the national vote. It was introduced by Representative Gene Green (D) of Texas on January 4, 2005. Representative Green then again introduced the legislation on January 7, 2009 as H.J.Res. 9.
As of April 2009 two other joint resolutions have been proposed in the 111th Congress to amend the Constitution to establish a national popular vote for the president and vice-president. Sponsored by Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., H.J.Res. 36 would require a majority vote for president. Sponsored by Senator Bill Nelson, S.J.Res. 4 would leave the method of election to an Act of Congress.
Famous quotes containing the words vote, counts and/or amendment:
“I will not vote against the truths of the multiplication table.”
—James A. Garfield (1831–1881)
“The man who knows it can’t be done counts the risk, not the reward.”
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915)
“During the Suffragette revolt of 1913 I ... [urged] that what was needed was not the vote, but a constitutional amendment enacting that all representative bodies shall consist of women and men in equal numbers, whether elected or nominated or coopted or registered or picked up in the street like a coroner’s jury. In the case of elected bodies the only way of effecting this is by the Coupled Vote. The representative unit must not be a man or a woman but a man and a woman.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)