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State lawmakers in Virginia are on their way to joining an agreement with other states that aims to diminish the importance of the Electoral College in favor of a system in which presidential elections are determined based on which candidate wins the national popular vote.
The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact utilizes a little-known provision in the U.S. Constitution, which allows state legislatures to decide how to allocate their Electoral College votes. Every state in the country, plus Washington D.C., currently does so through popular vote within their own boundaries (with two states doing so through popular vote within individual congressional districts).
However, the current system is imperfect: Although electoral votes are allocated based partially on population, every state is guaranteed at least three electors, giving much smaller states a higher proportionality of votes than larger states. The result can sometimes mean a candidate who didn’t win the popular vote can win the presidency through the Electoral College, which has happened several times throughout U.S. history, including twice since 2000.
This system also makes it less likely for voters in states that are heavily Democratic or Republican to take part in presidential elections, as they may view their participation as pointless.
“Under the current system, the presidential election is decided by voters in a handful of battleground states, while the votes of the four out of five Americans who live in safely blue or safely red states are essentially irrelevant,” Alyssa Cass, a spokesperson for National Popular Vote, told Truthout.
Indeed, presidential candidates seem to ignore these states, and in turn their constituents’ concerns, focusing their attention instead on the “swing states” that could tip the scales of the Electoral College. In 2024, 94 percent of the 2024 presidential general election campaign took place in just seven states.
“Voters don’t have an enormous amount of confidence in a system where the majority of their voices aren’t being heard,” Cass added.
Under the terms of the compact, states involved in the agreement would send their votes to whichever candidate wins the popular vote, even if a majority of voters in their own boundaries chose someone else. The Electoral College would still technically exist, but would be used in a way that guarantees the popular vote winner receives a majority of the electoral votes to become president.
The compact does not go into effect until it reaches the number of states needed to have a majority of Electoral College votes, currently at 270. The compact currently has the support of 17 states plus D.C., representing 209 electoral votes.
If Virginia joins the compact, it would increase that total to 222 Electoral College votes, with just 48 remaining before the compact goes into play.
Nearly 6 in 10 Americans support changing the current system of selecting the president to a system where the winner of the popular vote takes the Oval Office.
On Monday, the Virginia State Senate approved passage of a bill that would place the commonwealth within the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. The bill now goes to the House of Delegates, where it is expected to pass, with lawmakers potentially voting as early as Wednesday in support of the measure. Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger is expected to sign the bill if it reaches her desk.
Senate Democratic Majority Leader Scott Surovell expressed support for the bill earlier this week, saying it is far past time to get rid of the Electoral College.
“The Electoral College is not something we should be lauding and patting ourselves on the back and saying what a wonderful thing it is,” Surovell said. “It has arrogant, aristocratic and racist origins, and its consequences continue to play itself out today.”
With Virginia poised to join the compact, proponents are optimistic that more states will soon want to join.
The compact is “well on its way to enactment, especially with this latest burst of momentum in Virginia,” Cass said.
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