Michigan Republicans reassert their stance against the national popular vote initiative
Republican lawmakers in the Michigan House of Representatives are opposing a Democratic proposal that would shift Michigan’s system for appointing its presidential electors to one based on the national popular vote. This bill, HB 4156, introduced by Democratic state Rep. Carrie Rheingans, has not yet been voted on. It seeks to align Michigan with the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which aims to elect the president according to the national popular vote, rather than individual state votes. This compact will only activate when states representing at least 270 electoral votes join; currently, jurisdictions totaling 209 votes are members.
Republicans argue that this change will disenfranchise Michigan voters by diluting their influence in presidential elections, shifting power to states with larger populations like California and New York. Republican state Rep. Ann Bollin has expressed concerns that this bill would suppress Michigan’s voice, favoring larger states and undermining the state’s diverse regional interests. Similarly, state Rep. Neil Friske criticized the bill as favoring “coastal elites” and compared the Democrats’ efforts to authoritarian tactics, suggesting that it could undermine rural voices in favor of urban centers. These Republican members assert that adopting this proposal would be detrimental, appealing to preservation of the current Electoral College system which they believe ensures balanced national representation and addresses regional concerns.
Republicans in the Michigan House of Representatives are doubling down on their opposition to a Democrat-led bill, which could put the state’s 15 electoral votes in line with the national popular vote in presidential elections.
The effort comes as other states have passed measures looking to align themselves with the national popular vote, rather than their own state’s popular vote, as a way to change the way a president is elected. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have already agreed to a compact which would have them vote in line with the popular vote, rather than their respective jurisdiction’s popular vote, but the combat would only take effect once states amassing 270 electoral votes have joined the compact. Among the current jurisdictions in the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, Michigan accounts for only 209 electoral votes.
Michigan’s HB 4156 would place them in the compact, but Republicans believe the effort led by Democratic state Rep. Carrie Rheingans would disenfranchise voters in the Great Lakes State. The bill was introduced last year, but has yet to be brought for a vote.
Republican state Rep. Ann Bollin argued earlier this week that the bill would silence the voice of Michigan voters, decrying it as a “dangerous proposal.”
“The ultimate goal of this legislation is to force Michigan’s electoral votes to be determined by the national popular vote, effectively silencing the voices of Michigan residents in favor of those in other states like California or New York,” Bollin said in a statement.
“The Electoral College ensures presidential candidates campaign across a variety of states, addressing unique regional concerns,” Bollin added. “Michigan’s urban, suburban, and rural communities deserve to have their voices heard. This legislation would drown out those voices in favor of larger states with massive population centers.”
Another member of the Michigan House GOP, state Rep. Neil Friske, said Democrats were “bowing to coastal elites in New York and California” by pushing the bill.
“This is a blatant authoritarian attempt to amplify radical socialists in large cities so Democrats can finally drown out the voices of hard-working rural America. They’ll eat our food, drive our cars, and visit our parks, but the minute we step into a ballot box, they want nothing to do with us,” Friske said Thursday.
“Regular people won’t stand for this desperate attempt to undermine our elections as Democrats do everything possible to turn Michigan into their own little version of Communist China,” Friske said. “We owe it to our sons and daughters, grandchildren, and all future generations to preserve the constitutional republic our founders were willing to die for.”
Rheingans has defended her bill in the past as being about making sure every voter’s voice is heard, contending that if Michigan is not a battleground state, then its issues will be ignored by presidential candidates.
“People want their vote to count,” Rheingans told the Michigan Advance in May 2023. “They want their vote to be equal. Right now we have an election of the battleground states in America. I mean, to be honest, we don’t have a presidential election of all of the United States of America. Presidential candidates spend their time and their money in battleground states.”
Michigan is one of the key battleground states in the 2024 election after being one of the pivotal states in 2016 and 2020. The RealClearPolitics polling average shows former President Donald Trump with a narrow 0.3% advantage over President Joe Biden in the state, with the Cook Political Report rating the state as a “toss up.”
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In history, there have been five instances where the Electoral College, which elects presidents, and the national popular vote winner have differed — in 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016.
Since 1992, Republicans have only won the national popular vote once, in 2004, but GOP candidates won the presidential election in 2000, 2004, and 2016.
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