National Popular Vote Compact 2026 - A Solution!

 Our government is going through some very challenging times as we approach the 250 anniversary of our country. 

Categorized as a constitutional federal republic, a bedrock principle is the one-person-one vote proposition that every citizen has a voice in who will be his/her elected leaders. The Electoral College was created during the 1787 Constitutional Convention as a compromise by the Founding Fathers:

• to balance the interests of large and small states, 
• address concerns about direct popular vote, 
• and incorporate the issue of slavery into the new framework for presidential elections. 

It is ultimately the Electoral College vote that determines who will b the next President of the United States.

HISTORY

One of the questions that has resurfaced in recent years has been the question of the Popular Vote vs the Electoral Vote. There has been five presidents of the 47 elected who won the Electoral Vote, but lost the Popular Vote. They are:

• John Quincy Adams (1824) Andrew Jackson won a plurality of the popular and electoral votes, but no candidate received the required majority of electoral votes. The election was decided by the House of Representatives, which chose Adams as president in what Jackson's supporters called a "corrupt bargain".
• Rutherford B. Hayes (1876) Democrat Samuel Tilden beat Hayes by more than 200,000 popular votes. However, 20 electoral votes from three states were disputed. A bipartisan commission ultimately awarded all the disputed votes to Hayes, allowing him to win the election by a single electoral vote (185 to 184).
• Benjamin Harrison (1888) Grover Cleveland, the incumbent president, won the popular vote by over 90,000 votes. Harrison, however, won the Electoral College with a decisive 233 to 168 margin, primarily by narrowly carrying the key swing states in the North and Midwest, including his home state of Indiana.
• George W. Bush (2000) In a tight race that came down to the results in Florida, Democrat Al Gore won the national popular vote by more than 500,000 votes. The Supreme Court ultimately stopped a recount in Florida, resulting in Bush winning based on the state's electoral votes and securing the presidency with 271 electoral votes to Gore's 266.
• Donald Trump (2016) Donald Trump received approximately 2.8 million fewer popular votes than Hillary Clinton. However, he won the Electoral College with 304 electoral votes to Clinton's 227, securing the presidency. 

THE ISSUE!

The one-person-one-vote principle with regards to the presidential elections has diminished as changes were made to the Electoral College. The state-level, "winner-take-all" laws that have evolved over time have impacted the election process by:

• reducing the presidential candidates campaigns to pay attention only to voters in closely divided battleground states;
• focusing general-election campaign events to just seven states;
• generating controversies over real or imagined irregularities and incentivizes hair-splitting litigation.

These laws coupled with:

• the formula for allocating electoral votes to the states;
• intra-decade population changes;
• and turnout differences that increase or decrease the value of a voter's vote

have resulted in giving voters in battleground states an average weight of 200 times more than that of voters elsewhere. With voter participation being 11% higher those battleground states, every vote is NOT equal throughout the United States when it comes to the presidential ticket.

A SOLUTION!!

The fact that the U.S. Constitution (Article II) gives the states a built-in way to reform the system enables the opportunity to enact the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.  Under the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, no voter will have their vote cancelled out at the state-level because their choice differed from the plurality sentiment in their state. 

THE AGREEMENT:  instead of each state using a "winner-take-all" system based on its own state-level popular vote, Compact member states pledge to appoint their electors to the winner of the national popular vote.  This compact would go into effect ONLY when the states cumulatively possessing a majority of the electoral votes, specifically, at least 270 out of the 538 total electoral votes, have joined the agreement. 

THE REQUIREMENT:  since state legislatures have the ability to direct through legislation how their electoral votes are counted, states wanting to be part of the compact need to pass legislation that will support and comply with the compact agreement to redirect the electoral votes based on the nation-wide popular vote rather than the state-popular vote.

CURRENT STATUS:  the National Popular Vote has been enacted into law by 18 jurisdictions, including 6 small states (DC, DE, HI, ME, RI, VT), 9 medium-sized states (CO, CT, MD, MA, MN, NJ, NM, OR, WA), and 3 big states (CA, IL, NY).  These jurisdictions have 209 of the 270 electoral votes needed to activate the law.

If it is also passed in legislative chambers in 7 additional states with 74 electoral votes (AR, AZ, MI, NC, NV, OK, VA) then we will achieve our goal.  Over 3,800 state legislators have sponsored or cast a recorded vote in favor of it.

WHAT IS LEFT TO DO:  what is required now by Virginia is legislation that will ensure that Virginia's 13 electoral votes will be committed to the National Popular Vote Compact regardless of state popular vote.  It should be noted that Governor Elect Abegail Spanburger is committed to this effort as well should be every Democratic voter in the magnificent Commonwealth of Virginia!