National Popular Vote Interstate Compact

E2954

The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is an agreement among U.S. states to award their electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote, effectively seeking to ensure the presidency goes to the popular vote winner without abolishing the Electoral College.


Statements (48)
Predicate Object
instanceOf electoral reform proposal
interstate compact
aimsToAddress discrepancies between national popular vote and Electoral College results
appliesTo allocation of presidential electors by member states
basedOn Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution
state authority to determine manner of appointing electors
bindingCondition member states cannot withdraw shortly before a presidential election once in effect
conditionForEffectiveness takes effect only when member states hold a majority of Electoral College votes
country United States
criticizedFor concerns about state sovereignty over electors
possibility of conflicts with non‑member states’ election laws
potential constitutional challenges
doesNotAbolish Electoral College
electoralVoteThresholdForEffectiveness 270
feature compact becomes binding only after reaching electoral vote majority
states may join by passing identical or substantially similar legislation
uses national popular vote total as basis for awarding electors
geographicalArea United States of America
goal to make every vote equal in presidential elections regardless of state
to reduce focus on swing states in presidential campaigns
implementationMethod state statutes adopting the compact
jurisdiction member states and District of Columbia
language English
legalForm interstate agreement
mechanism member states award their electoral votes to the national popular vote winner
memberType District of Columbia
U.S. states
opposedBy some advocates of the current Electoral College system
purpose to change the method of allocating presidential electors without abolishing the Electoral College
to ensure the U.S. presidency is won by the national popular vote winner
relatedTo Electoral College
United States presidential elections
electoral reform in the United States
popular vote versus Electoral College outcomes
requires enactment by state legislatures
governor’s signature in each member state
states to determine national popular vote winner from official state results
respects state constitutional power to appoint electors
scope U.S. presidential elections
shortName NPVIC
status not yet in effect
subjectOf legal scholarship
political debate
public policy analysis
supportedBy some Democratic politicians
some Republican politicians
some electoral reform organizations
typeOfChange state‑level reform rather than federal constitutional amendment

Referenced by (2)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
NPVIC
fullName
Electoral College
reformProposalsInclude

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