The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NVPIC) is an agreement among states to award their electoral votes to whichever presidential candidate wins the national popular vote. Notably, the laws do not take effect until enough states totaling 270 electoral votes have joined.
We are already 72% of the way there—with 15 states and the District of Columbia having passed a law joining the Compact, which totals 195 electoral votes. And in Colorado, after the governor and state legislature joined the Compact in 2019, it even survived a referendum challenge at the ballot box.
Getting from 195 to 270 electoral votes will not be easy, as we already got the “low-hanging fruit” of large blue states like California, New York, and Illinois. But the Compact has already picked up battleground states like Colorado and New Mexico, and in recent years, the Compact came very close to passing in Nevada (where it passed both houses of the legislature), Maine, and Virginia.
After the 2022 midterms, Democrats have a trifecta in Minnesota and Michigan—so in 2023, these two states will be top priorities for the Compact. We also now have a Democratic majority in the Pennsylvania state House, and are likely just one more election cycle away from picking up the legislature in Arizona.
We can make a lot of progress this session, even if we are not likely to hit 270 before the 2024 election. But winning in more states gives voters an excellent shot of the NPVIC affecting the 2028 presidential election, and beyond.
It will be a long fight, but democracy—and making sure that the people’s choice wins—is worth a long fight. Daily Kos will continue to keep fighting for the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact until the presidential candidate who receives the most votes is guaranteed to win the election.
Sign the petition: Elect the president by national popular vote.
Happy New Year! Daily Kos’ Joan McCarter is on the show today to talk about the wild garbage fire that was the Republican speaker of the House vote. Kerry and Markos also break down what this onionskin-thin conservative majority can and cannot do in the coming year, as well as what the Democratic representatives can do to make Kevin McCarthy’s life just that much tougher.
