Virginia signs national popular vote bill into law, joining interstate compact with 17 other states and District of Columbia
A national majority vote for president is one step closer to reality after the Virginia governor, Abigail Spanberger, signed the national popular vote bill into law, joining an interstate compact with 17 other states and the District of Columbia.
Under the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, states would assign their presidential electors to the winner of the popular vote, regardless of the results within the state. The compact takes effect when states representing a majority of electoral votes – 270 of 538 – pass the legislation and thus would determine the winner of the presidential contest. With Virginia, the compact now has 222 electors.
Every state that has so far enacted the compact has Democratic electoral majorities, including California, New York and Illinois. But legislation has been introduced in enough states to reach the 270-elector threshold, including swing states like Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
1990s problems require 1990s solutions.
I hope it accounts for what happens if those States’ votes equal/exceed 270 at one time but then electoral fuckery occurs and they drop below that number due to their bullshit census tallies. Because we all know Repubs will pull it in a heartbeat.
This compact is extremely unlikely to ever be enforceable. The ensuing court cases would make 2000 seem minor.
The Constitution gives the power to the states to appoint and direct their electors.
Interstate compacts require congressional approval. This one doesn’t have that. There’s also a good argument that a state giving all it’s votes to someone the state didn’t vote for in the majority violates the rights of it’s citizens to a republican form of government.
And the Supreme Court has already ruled 3 different times that congressional approval for interstate compacts is implicit, unless the compact shifts power from federal to the state.
yup. once it reaches the threshold, the congressional and legal battles that follow will likely keep it from ever actually taking effect without a constitutional amendment.
Article II, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution: Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress
It seems pretty cut and dry to me. It gives absolutely no guard rails, limits, directives, or even suggestions as to how those states’ legislatures may appoint Electors. They can do it “in such manner as [they] may direct”. The states have the latitude to decide how to assign and direct their Electors however they see fit.
It’s already enough latitude that different states at different times have decided A) to give an elector to the winner of each district and two to the winner of that statewide winner, B) to give them all to the statewide winner, C) to have the legislature decide without a popular vote, and D) to hold a state vote and then ignore it anyway and let the legislature decide instead. And 13 states, still, fully allow individual “faithless” Electors to vote against their assigned/pledged candidate, and only 14 states will actually void and replace the electors who misplaced their vote (the other states where it is disallowed just give them a fine or criminally charge them but still let their vote stand)…
If that’s the kind of latitude that is already settled law, then it would be absolutely insane to draw the line at assigning Electors on the will of the whole nation, i.e. of the entire body of people who has a pony in this race, and based on a compact that the states representing the majority of Americans agreed upon. It doesn’t disenfranchise anyone, the current system does that.
I’m sure that it will be challenged. But there is absolutely no legal justification to overturn it.
It’s not just battles trying to delay it. There’s very good legal arguments that congressional approval is required at a minimum in addition to states signing on.
Doesn’t really fix anything as long as it’s a binary option, where all power goes to the winner.
To improve democracy in USA, USA needs a parliamentary system, that allows representation by many parties, and a majority in that system decides who forms the government, and also has the power to overturn the government.As interesting as this sounds - I honestly can’t see it working.
Can you imagine how Californians would react if the state gave its votes to Trump after he won the popular vote?
I imagine a democracy not being run by slave-era tools like the electoral college.
