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Defending the Electoral College and the Constitution since 2009
The National Popular Vote interstate compact (NPV) gained its first state back in 2007 when former Maryland Democratic Governor Martin O’Malley signed House Bill 148 into law. Since then, sixteen other states, plus DC, have joined the compact, agreeing to award their state’s electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote.
For a while, it appeared that NPV was on the path to reaching 270 electoral votes and finally enacting its unconstitutional scheme. But things have been different this year. Legislative sessions are winding down, and not a single bill received a hearing in any state.
Maine became the latest state to join the compact in 2024, when a bill passed due to several legislators’ absences during the vote. Governor Janet Mills, who allowed it to take effect without her signature, expressed reservations after the bill's passing: “Opponents have raised legitimate questions about whether presidential candidates would want to visit Maine knowing that, under a winner-take-all system, their chance to win our electoral votes declines and, as a result, their time would be better spent elsewhere.”
She went on to concede that both opponents and proponents of the compact had legitimate points, but her unwillingness to sign it into law and/or endorse the compact highlights its unpopularity in a state with less than two million residents.
In 2023, Minnesota joined the compact through questionable means. Democratic leadership bundled the NPV provision into an omnibus package, pressuring legislators to vote for it. Governor Tim Walz, a longtime supporter of National Popular Vote, signed the package into law, committing the states’ ten electoral votes to the compact. A repeal bill was introduced in the Minnesota legislature earlier this year before dying in committee, signaling legislators' frustration with the process.
The National Popular Vote movement seems to be running out of dirty tricks and state legislatures willing to pass their scheme or even give it a hearing. If this trend continues, the National Popular Vote interstate compact could become just another failed election reform project.