The House Freedom Caucus announced its opposition to HB 4156, which would bind Michigan to the National Popular Vote (NPV) compact. The NPV compact would commit Michigan’s 15 electors to vote for whoever wins the national popular vote should additional states sign onto the agreement and surpass the 270 electoral vote threshold.

“HB 4156 is irresponsible legislation,” said Representative Rachelle Smit. “Public trust in our elections is at an all-time low, and House Democrats are keen to remove the oversight Michigan voters have in deciding which candidate receives our 15 electoral votes. We could see a situation where the state electors cast their ballots for someone who lost the state by hundreds of thousands of votes.”

The NPV compact is currently adopted in 15 Democrat states and Washington D.C., representing 195 votes in the electoral college. Michigan adding their 15 votes would leave the electoral college 60 electoral votes from destruction.

“The issues that are most important to us here in Michigan are wildly different from those in Los Angeles County. NPV would give us, as a state, the same voice as one county in California. We will see a dramatic decrease in our relevance in national policy making should this pass” says Representative Joseph Fox.

“It’s astonishing to hear NPV advocates claim that their method of awarding votes is more in line with the founder’s intentions,” commented Representative Jim DeSana. “A quick read of the Federalist papers will dispel the idea that the national popular vote had any bearing on who the founders thought should lead the country..”

HB 4156 passed out of the Elections Committee