Improve the Electoral College with the Tri-State Area Compromise
Improve the Electoral College with the Tri-State Area Compromise
The Issue
The Electoral College is the thorn in the side of our remarkable founders, who went right up to the line of creating a representative democracy, but did not cross it. Much like the traumatic legacies of racism, sexism and homophobia, the Electoral College in its current form, is a body that disenfranchises millions of Americans. Voters in swing states are treated as more important than voters from other states. In swing states, resources flow, interests are elevated, and the people are bombarded and annoyed each election cycle.
To fix this problem, we the people of New York (28 votes), New Jersey (14 votes), and Connecticut (7 votes) present this petition to support the Tri-State Area Compromise, in which Electoral votes will now be determined by the results from Congressional districts, rather than the winner-takes-all system. The statewide winners will receive the two Electoral votes that are attributed to the Senators. Fortunately, there is no need for a federal constitutional amendment to make the switch.
The next step will require mutual acts of trust, which are already underway in Maine and Nebraska. The intention of this petition is not to benefit either party. Having voted exclusively for the Democratic Party’s Presidential candidate for over 20 years, we ask that some “Republican” states also make the switch to divvy electors according to election results of Congressional districts. Texas (40 votes) and South Carolina (9 votes) could make the switch, and the amount of newly contestable Electoral votes would counterbalance. We implore the states to make the switch before the 2028 election.
The goal of the Tri-State Area Compromise is to improve our democracy. If all 50 states were to follow suit, we wouldn’t be talking about swing states, but swing districts, and there are a lot of them. To be clear, this is not associated with the movement for the National Popular Vote. Future presidential candidates would still need to reach 270 Electoral votes, but now they would have to campaign for each one. Simply put, your vote would matter more.
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The Issue
The Electoral College is the thorn in the side of our remarkable founders, who went right up to the line of creating a representative democracy, but did not cross it. Much like the traumatic legacies of racism, sexism and homophobia, the Electoral College in its current form, is a body that disenfranchises millions of Americans. Voters in swing states are treated as more important than voters from other states. In swing states, resources flow, interests are elevated, and the people are bombarded and annoyed each election cycle.
To fix this problem, we the people of New York (28 votes), New Jersey (14 votes), and Connecticut (7 votes) present this petition to support the Tri-State Area Compromise, in which Electoral votes will now be determined by the results from Congressional districts, rather than the winner-takes-all system. The statewide winners will receive the two Electoral votes that are attributed to the Senators. Fortunately, there is no need for a federal constitutional amendment to make the switch.
The next step will require mutual acts of trust, which are already underway in Maine and Nebraska. The intention of this petition is not to benefit either party. Having voted exclusively for the Democratic Party’s Presidential candidate for over 20 years, we ask that some “Republican” states also make the switch to divvy electors according to election results of Congressional districts. Texas (40 votes) and South Carolina (9 votes) could make the switch, and the amount of newly contestable Electoral votes would counterbalance. We implore the states to make the switch before the 2028 election.
The goal of the Tri-State Area Compromise is to improve our democracy. If all 50 states were to follow suit, we wouldn’t be talking about swing states, but swing districts, and there are a lot of them. To be clear, this is not associated with the movement for the National Popular Vote. Future presidential candidates would still need to reach 270 Electoral votes, but now they would have to campaign for each one. Simply put, your vote would matter more.
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Petition created on March 28, 2025