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Project 2029 is a coalition of left-leaning groups struggling to find an agenda. The group recently released its first policy brief, which calls for executive action to push states into the National Popular Vote (NPV) interstate compact.

The brief consists of the same old NPV talking points you’re probably familiar with. Among their complaints: small states like Wyoming having a voice, the existence of swing states, and false claims of the Electoral College violating the principle of one person, one vote. Luckily, all these are easy to refute.

Small states like Wyoming gain some influence under the Electoral College, but their influence remains far less than that of large states like California. It’s important to remember that Wyoming has only three electoral votes, while California has 54. This structure ensures smaller states have a voice in presidential elections without disenfranchising residents of more populous states.

With the Electoral College, each voter gets one vote, but instead of that vote going into one big national popular vote pot, it is cast for a slate of electors that represent one state’s voice in the Electoral College. This is one-person, one-vote, within each state.

When the Framers of the Constitution created the Electoral College during the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the U.S. population was around 3 million. America now has a population of about 340 million, with massive metro areas like greater New York City (20 million residents) and Los Angeles (13 million). If anything, the Electoral College is more important now than it was even then.

In the policy brief, Project 2029 takes issue with the idea of swing states. What they fail to mention is that swing states, safe states, red states, and blue states all change over time. Michigan and Pennsylvania seemed like safe blue states just a few cycles ago. California and Vermont were once safe Republican states.

Recycled arguments aside, Project 2029 poses a serious threat to our constitutional election system. The group, which recently hired former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, aims to emulate the success of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025.

Despite Project 2029’s claims, the NPV compact is not a reform—it’s an unconstitutional attempt to bypass the Electoral College without a constitutional amendment. Besides, the Electoral College doesn’t need reform—it needs a strong defense against efforts to dismantle it.