State Rep. Brian BeGole today slammed new movement on a Democrat plan that would change how Michigan awards electoral votes – discarding the voices and priorities of voters in rural areas and across the state in the process.

House Bill 4156 would place Michigan into the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. The compact bucks the traditional Electoral College – established by the nation’s founders and used diligently for centuries to ensure balanced influence from diverse states and regions when electing a president – in favor of awarding Michigan’s electoral votes to whoever wins the national popular vote.

“This move would completely ignore what people and families in areas like the one I represent feel is important to them and their communities,” said BeGole, of Antrim Township. “Candidates could just go to big cities on the coasts and rack up support there and not have to spend time listening to priorities from rural states or towns. We constantly hear about the importance of every vote counting and pushing back against things that disenfranchise voters. Would Michigan votes matter if a candidate receives more here but can’t receive our electoral votes because they got less votes nationally? The truth is: we’re disenfranchising every voter in Michigan if we move to this skewed and flawed system.”

For the last general election in 2020, almost 3 million people turned out to vote in New York City. Another 4.3 million votes were cast in Los Angeles. Combined, those two cities alone dwarfed Michigan’s record-breaking statewide turnout of 5.5 million votes.

Several states, plus the District of Columbia, have already become part of this arrangement, which would go into effect with participating states after they collectively represent at least 270 votes in the Electoral College.

“The Electoral College has served as a reliable method for presidential elections for centuries,” BeGole said. “It understood the importance of voices being heard from across the country, including in states like ours that have been critical battleground areas for the past few presidential election cycles. Going to this system would put our state at an incredible disadvantage going forward, and it doesn’t have my support.”

HB 4156 was recently advanced by the House Elections Committee to the full House for consideration.