How National Popular Vote Works

The Electoral College awards the presidency to any candidate who has been awarded 270 of 538 available electoral votes. Since just the 19th Century, states have chosen to award all of their electoral votes to the candidate who wins in their own statewide popular vote. However, this method of awarding electoral votes is not required of the states by the Constitution and did not become a nationwide standard until 1868. Article II, Section I of the Constitution states: “Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors…” National Popular Vote will instead give citizens a direct voice in awarding their electoral votes to the candidate who wins the popular vote.

This change would be enacted as a result of an interstate compact. Interstate compacts are quite common (the average state is a member of about 25) (1) and are effectively contracts between states. These compacts must be approved by Congress and, upon approval, member states are constitutionally bound to the terms of the compact. The National Popular Vote compact is an agreement among states to award all of their respective electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote. However, this will not go into effect until the combined electoral votes of the member states meet or exceed 270. States would otherwise run the risk of awarding electoral votes against the wishes of their electorates, without any assurance that the popular vote candidate would be elected.

The interstate compact is an elegant solution to a problem derived from decades of politics. It’s a constitutional approach, relying only on the cooperation of a number of states with a combined majority of electoral votes.

1. Degolian, Crady. “Trends in Interstate Compacts.” Trends in Interstate Compacts | CSG Knowledge Center, The Council of State Governments, 25 Aug. 2011, knowledgecenter.csg.org/kc/content/capitol-research-trends-interstate-compacts.