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Defending the power of our states since 2009
The National Popular Vote interstate compact (NPV) is closer than ever to taking effect. A new Daily Signal report highlights just how close.
After Virginia joined the compact earlier this year, NPV now has 222 electoral votes committed from 18 states and D.C. This is just 48 short of the 270 needed for the compact to take effect.
If activated, the compact would require participating states to award their presidential electors to the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide, regardless of which candidate wins that particular state.
As the Daily Signal recently put it:
“The interstate compact is largely an end run around a constitutional amendment to replace the Electoral College.”
That is why the remaining 48 electoral votes matter.
The Daily Signal reports that NPV advocates are focused on Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Together, those states hold enough electoral votes to push the compact beyond its activation threshold.
Save Our States Executive Director Trent England pointed out in the article that opposition to NPV is nearly unanimous among Republican state legislators, but the work does not stop there.
“We’ve talked to Democratic lawmakers in Michigan, Arizona, and Nevada,” England said. “There are plenty of folks on the Democratic side who understand. Pennsylvania is another state we are focused on. Both sides have heavily targeted that state.”
With 222 electoral votes already committed, that debate is no longer theoretical. NPV is 48 electoral votes away from manipulating how America elects its president.
That would trigger a wave of state and federal lawsuits. The instability of mass litigation leading into the 2028 presidential election would be a disaster even if courts eventually did the right thing and found that the the compact is unconstitutional.