Berl Falbaum
In this column, we are going to discuss the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC).
I can hear your reaction: What took you so long?
I’ll confess that I hardly knew much about NPVIC until a good friend, David Shepherd, called my attention to it.
And I learned that if adopted, it would provide a seismic change in how we elect the president of the United States.
First some background.
Introduced in 2006,NPVIC would be an agreement among a group of U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award all their electoral votes to whichever candidate wins the overall popular vote in the 50 states and D.C.
According to the organization heading the drive, the compact is designed to ensure that the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide is elected president, and it would come into effect only when it would guarantee that outcome.
Thus far, 17 states and the District of Columbia have adopted the measure for a total of 209 electoral votes. The number needed is 270 out of a total of 538 electors.
The Virginia legislature also has passed the required bill and, if signed by the governor, it would bring the total to 222. Forty-eight to go.
In Michigan, which has 15 electoral votes, the measure was introduced in 2023 by Representative Carrie Rheingans, a Democrat who represents western Washtenaw County and southeastern Jackson County.
It was sent to committee but “died” before a vote could be taken on the floor. In an interview with The Detroit Legal News, she said she is considering reintroducing the bill and hopes to have the entire package adopted before the next presidential election in 2028. She’s optimistic.
Now, overall, most, if not all, good government organizations support abandoning the electoral system of electing a president.
Generally, they point to the losses of Al Gore and Hillary Clinton, who were defeated in their races despite winning the popular vote in 2000 and 2016, respectively.
Thus, they argue, no more “seven swing states” to elect a president serving a population of 338 million.
Strong argument but…
• Ultimately, the election still relies on electoral votes.
• Voters who cast their ballot for the candidate not receiving their state’s electoral votes will feel disenfranchised.
• While NPVIC maintains that adoption would not require changes in the Constitution, opponents argue otherwise, almost guaranteeing a prolonged legal fight. Some insist it would require approval from Congress.
• Democrats and Republicans are split on the issue with the former supporting it and Republicans in opposition. Do we need another national inter-party battle?
• Opponents worry about the possibility of needing nationwide recounts in close elections. They observe that no state can compel other states to recount votes, and without uniform procedures, the legitimacy of the president-elect could be questioned.
• Supporters contend that NPVIC gives states with large populations an edge over smaller ones. But this isn’t a state issue, it is a national one. We don’t use electors in statewide elections for governor and U.S. senators even though the political interests of counties are different.
For instance, in Michigan, Wayne County has the largest population (1.78 million) of Michigan’s 83 counties and no one would propose to adopt an electoral system that has the other 82 counties ban together in voting for governor and the two U.S. senators to balance the power of Wayne County. Surely, residents in Wayne County have competing objectives with Keweenaw County – population of a whopping 2,060 – in the Upper Peninsula.
In a comprehensive analysis, the renowned think tank, the Cato Institute, concludes: “In an era when disputed elections are becoming more common and where the laws governing presidential elections are already riddled with dangerous ambiguities, the NPVIC is an invitation to a constitutional crisis.
“With the world’s most powerful office at stake, America’s presidential election procedures need certainty and stability. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact threatens to bring us the exact opposite, an election in which the rules would be extremely uncertain and unsettled.
“Rather than risking such a high-stakes catastrophe, opponents of the Electoral College should accept there’s no easy shortcut around the difficult task of amending the Constitution.”
So, what to do?
Why not just go to a straight popular vote? Why do we need electors at all? It makes little sense. The electoral system was initiated to placate slave states with a lower population than Northern states because slaves did not have the right to vote. A change is long overdue; let’s say some 150 years or so.
Thus, I am casting my one non-elector vote to adopt a “pure popular” vote and have the president elected by the majority of Americans.
Yes, that would require a change in the Constitution but it would end a long-standing debate.
The answer seems so simple that I know we will continue arguing about this for years to come.
Nothing ever comes easy in our politics.
I can hear your reaction: What took you so long?
I’ll confess that I hardly knew much about NPVIC until a good friend, David Shepherd, called my attention to it.
And I learned that if adopted, it would provide a seismic change in how we elect the president of the United States.
First some background.
Introduced in 2006,NPVIC would be an agreement among a group of U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award all their electoral votes to whichever candidate wins the overall popular vote in the 50 states and D.C.
According to the organization heading the drive, the compact is designed to ensure that the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide is elected president, and it would come into effect only when it would guarantee that outcome.
Thus far, 17 states and the District of Columbia have adopted the measure for a total of 209 electoral votes. The number needed is 270 out of a total of 538 electors.
The Virginia legislature also has passed the required bill and, if signed by the governor, it would bring the total to 222. Forty-eight to go.
In Michigan, which has 15 electoral votes, the measure was introduced in 2023 by Representative Carrie Rheingans, a Democrat who represents western Washtenaw County and southeastern Jackson County.
It was sent to committee but “died” before a vote could be taken on the floor. In an interview with The Detroit Legal News, she said she is considering reintroducing the bill and hopes to have the entire package adopted before the next presidential election in 2028. She’s optimistic.
Now, overall, most, if not all, good government organizations support abandoning the electoral system of electing a president.
Generally, they point to the losses of Al Gore and Hillary Clinton, who were defeated in their races despite winning the popular vote in 2000 and 2016, respectively.
Thus, they argue, no more “seven swing states” to elect a president serving a population of 338 million.
Strong argument but…
• Ultimately, the election still relies on electoral votes.
• Voters who cast their ballot for the candidate not receiving their state’s electoral votes will feel disenfranchised.
• While NPVIC maintains that adoption would not require changes in the Constitution, opponents argue otherwise, almost guaranteeing a prolonged legal fight. Some insist it would require approval from Congress.
• Democrats and Republicans are split on the issue with the former supporting it and Republicans in opposition. Do we need another national inter-party battle?
• Opponents worry about the possibility of needing nationwide recounts in close elections. They observe that no state can compel other states to recount votes, and without uniform procedures, the legitimacy of the president-elect could be questioned.
• Supporters contend that NPVIC gives states with large populations an edge over smaller ones. But this isn’t a state issue, it is a national one. We don’t use electors in statewide elections for governor and U.S. senators even though the political interests of counties are different.
For instance, in Michigan, Wayne County has the largest population (1.78 million) of Michigan’s 83 counties and no one would propose to adopt an electoral system that has the other 82 counties ban together in voting for governor and the two U.S. senators to balance the power of Wayne County. Surely, residents in Wayne County have competing objectives with Keweenaw County – population of a whopping 2,060 – in the Upper Peninsula.
In a comprehensive analysis, the renowned think tank, the Cato Institute, concludes: “In an era when disputed elections are becoming more common and where the laws governing presidential elections are already riddled with dangerous ambiguities, the NPVIC is an invitation to a constitutional crisis.
“With the world’s most powerful office at stake, America’s presidential election procedures need certainty and stability. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact threatens to bring us the exact opposite, an election in which the rules would be extremely uncertain and unsettled.
“Rather than risking such a high-stakes catastrophe, opponents of the Electoral College should accept there’s no easy shortcut around the difficult task of amending the Constitution.”
So, what to do?
Why not just go to a straight popular vote? Why do we need electors at all? It makes little sense. The electoral system was initiated to placate slave states with a lower population than Northern states because slaves did not have the right to vote. A change is long overdue; let’s say some 150 years or so.
Thus, I am casting my one non-elector vote to adopt a “pure popular” vote and have the president elected by the majority of Americans.
Yes, that would require a change in the Constitution but it would end a long-standing debate.
The answer seems so simple that I know we will continue arguing about this for years to come.
Nothing ever comes easy in our politics.
––––––––––––––––––––
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