National Popular Vote Interstate Compact

Current status

p style="font-size: 85%;"> Enacted into law Pending in current legislative session Failed in current or a previous session Note: Each square in the lower cartogram Cartogram A cartogram is a map in which some thematic mapping variable – such as travel time or Gross National Product – is substituted for land area or distance. The geometry or space of the map is distorted in order to convey the information of this alternate variable... represents one electoral vote.

The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is an agreement among U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

s designed to replace current state rules governing the electoral college system of presidential elections

United States presidential election

Elections for President and Vice President of the United States are indirect elections in which voters cast ballots for a slate of electors of the U.S. Electoral College, who in turn directly elect the President and Vice President...

with rules guaranteeing election of the national popular vote winner. As of August 2011, this interstate compact

Interstate compact

An interstate compact is an agreement between two or more states of the United States of America. Article I, Section 10 of the United States Constitution provides that "no state shall enter into an agreement or compact with another state" without the consent of Congress...

has been joined by eight states and the District of Columbia (see map); their 132 combined electoral votes amount to 24.5% of the electoral college and 49% of the 270 needed for the compact to go into effect.

The compact is based on Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution, which gives each state legislature the right to decide how to appoint its own electors. States have chosen various methods of allocation over the years, with regular changes in the nation's early decades. Today, 48 states award all of their electoral votes to the candidate with the most popular votes statewide.

States joining the compact will continue to award their electoral votes in their current manner until the compact has been joined by enough states to represent a controlling majority of the Electoral College (currently 270 of the total 538 electoral votes.) After that point, all of the electoral votes of the member states would be cast for the winner of the national popular vote in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. With the national popular vote winner guaranteed a majority

Majority

A majority is a subset of a group consisting of more than half of its members. This can be compared to a plurality, which is a subset larger than any other subset; i.e. a plurality is not necessarily a majority as the largest subset may consist of less than half the group's population...

in the Electoral College, he or she would automatically win the Electoral College and therefore the presidency.

Details of the compact law

States join the compact by adopting it as a state law

State law

In the United States, state law is the law of each separate U.S. state, as passed by the state legislature and adjudicated by state courts. It exists in parallel, and sometimes in conflict with, United States federal law. These disputes are often resolved by the federal courts.-See also:*List of U.S...

. The compact law requires that:

The member state shall hold presidential elections by statewide popular vote.
After the election, the state's chief election official (usually the state Secretary of State
Secretary of State (U.S. state government)
Secretary of State is an official in the state governments of 47 of the 50 states of the United States, as well as Puerto Rico and other U.S. possessions. In Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, this official is called the Secretary of the Commonwealth...

) shall certify the number of popular votes cast in the state for each candidate and report those results to the other states by a specific deadline.
The chief election official shall then determine "national popular vote totals" for each candidate by adding up the vote totals reported by every state (including states that have not adopted the compact) and the District of Columbia. (Under current federal law, each state is required to make official reports of vote totals to the federal government in the form of Certificates of Ascertainment.)
The state's electoral votes shall be awarded to the candidate with the greatest "national popular vote total."

The compact member states would award their electoral votes to the electors nominated by the candidate with the greatest number of popular votes (a plurality). In the extremely unlikely event of an exact tie

Tie (draw)

To tie or draw is to finish a competition with identical or inconclusive results. The word "tie" is usually used in North America for sports such as American football. "Draw" is usually used in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Commonwealth of Nations and it is usually used for sports such as...

in the national popular vote totals, each member state would award its electoral votes to the statewide winner, as is currently done in 48 states (Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

and Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

award some of their electoral votes based on results at the congressional district level).

The compact specifies that it shall take effect only if it is law in states controlling a majority of electoral votes on July 20 of a presidential election year. States wishing to join or withdraw from the compact after that date would not be able to implement that withdrawal until after January 20 of the following year. The compact would terminate in the event that the Electoral College is abolished.

Motivation behind the compact

Public opinion surveys suggest that a majority of Americans support the idea of a popular vote for president. A 2007 poll found that 72% favored replacing the Electoral College with a direct election, including 78% of Democrats

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

, 60% of Republicans

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

, and 73% of independent voters

Independent (voter)

An independent voter, those who register as an unaffiliated voter in the United States, is a voter of a democratic country who does not align him- or herself with a political party...

. Polls dating back to 1944 have shown a consistent majority of the public supporting a direct vote. The idea is popular for various reasons:

The Electoral College Votes system has an effect on presidential campaigns to focus disproportionately more on voters in a tiny percentage of pivotal swing states, while sidelining the rest of the states. A study by FairVote
FairVote
FairVote is a U.S. non-profit organization based in Takoma Park, Maryland, whose mission is to achieve universal access to participation, a full spectrum of meaningful ballot choices and majority rule with fair representation for all...

reported that the 2004 candidates devoted three quarters of their peak season campaign resources to just five states, while the other 45 states got very little attention. The report also stated that 18 states received no candidate visits and no TV advertising
Campaign advertising
'In politics, campaign advertising is the use of an advertising campaign through newspapers, radio commercials, television commercials, etc.) to influence the decisions made for and by groups. These ads are designed by political consultants and the political campaign staff...

. This may mean that swing state issues receive more attention while issues important to other states are largely ignored.

The Electoral College Votes system may increase or decrease voter turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...

disproportionately between states. Voters living outside the swing states tend to know more in advance the odds of which candidate is more likely to win their state. This greater certainty of the winner and knowledge of the odds may tend to decrease the incentive of voters in non swing states to spend energy voting for an outcome they feel they can't change -disproportionately unlike swing states voters. A report by the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate found that 2004
United States presidential election, 2004
The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...

voter turnout in competitive swing states grew by 6.3% from the previous presidential election
United States presidential election, 2000
The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Republican candidate George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas and son of former president George H. W. Bush , and Democratic candidate Al Gore, then-Vice President....

, compared to an increase of only 3.8% in noncompetitive states. A report by The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) found that turnout among eligible voters under age 30 was 64.4% in the 10 closest battleground states and only 47.6% in the rest of the country—a 17% gap.

There is debate over whether the Electoral College favors small or large population states. Those who argue that it favors small states point out that such states have more electoral votes relative to their populations (since the number of electors equals the number of representatives, based on population, plus two, because there are two senators). Others, however, believe that since most states award electoral votes on a winner-takes-all system, the potential of large states to shift greater numbers of electoral votes gives them more actual clout.

The Electoral College allows a candidate to win the presidency while losing the popular vote, as happened in the elections of 1876
United States presidential election, 1876
The United States presidential election of 1876 was one of the most disputed and controversial presidential elections in American history. Samuel J. Tilden of New York outpolled Ohio's Rutherford B. Hayes in the popular vote, and had 184 electoral votes to Hayes's 165, with 20 votes uncounted...

, 1888
United States presidential election, 1888
The 1888 election for President of the United States saw Grover Cleveland of New York, the incumbent president and a Democrat, try to secure a second term against the Republican nominee Benjamin Harrison, a former U.S. Senator from Indiana...

and 2000
United States presidential election, 2000
The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Republican candidate George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas and son of former president George H. W. Bush , and Democratic candidate Al Gore, then-Vice President....

. In each of these races, a Democrat won the popular vote while losing the electoral vote (and thus the election) to a Republican. In 2000, for example, Democrat Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....

lost the election despite beating Republican George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

in the popular vote. Republicans are not immune to this artifact of the electoral college, either, as Bush would have faced Gore's situation himself in 2004 if there had been a 60,000 vote shift to John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...

in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

.

Debate

See also: Criticism of the Electoral College

The project has been supported by editorials in many newspapers, including the New York Times, the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...

, the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

, the Boston Globe, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune, arguing that the existing system discourages voter turnout and leaves emphasis on only a few states and a few issues, while a popular election would equalize voting power. Others have argued against it, including the Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin was a daily newspaper based in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. At the time publication ceased on June 6, 2010, it was the second largest daily newspaper in the state of Hawaii...

. An article by Pierre S. du Pont, IV

Pierre S. du Pont, IV

Pierre Samuel "Pete" du Pont IV is an American lawyer and politician from Rockland, in New Castle County, Delaware, near Wilmington. He is a member of the Republican Party, who served three terms as U.S...

, a former governor of Delaware, in the opinion section of the Wall Street Journal has called the project an urban power grab that would shift politics entirely to urban issues in high population states and allow lower caliber candidates to run. A collection of readings pro and con has been assembled by the League of Women Voters.

Some of the major issues are detailed below:

Focus of campaigning

Supporters of the compact argue that under the current system, campaign focus – in terms of advertising spending, visits, and addressing of regional or state issues – is largely limited to the few swing states whose electoral outcomes are competitive, with politically "solid" states largely ignored. The maps to the right illustrate the amount spent on advertising and the number of visits to each state, relative to population, by the two major-party candidates in the last stretch of the 2004 presidential campaign

United States presidential election, 2004

The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...

. Supporters of the compact contend that a national popular vote would encourage candidates to campaign with equal effort for votes in competitive and non-competitive states alike. Critics of the compact argue that candidates would have less incentive to focus on states with smaller populations or fewer urban areas, and would thus be unmotivated to address rural issues.

Close elections and voter fraud

Opponents of the compact have suggested that a direct national election would raise concerns about election fraud. Former Delaware Governor Pete du Pont

Pierre S. du Pont, IV

argues that in 2000, "Mr. Gore's 540,000-vote margin amounted to 3.1 votes in each of the country's 175,000 precincts. 'Finding' three votes per precinct in urban areas is not a difficult thing...". However, National Popular Vote has argued that a direct election would reduce the likelihood of a close election and decrease the feasibility of fraud. They contend that the large nationwide pool of 122 million votes would make a close outcome much less likely than it is under the current system, in which the national winner may be determined by an extremely small vote margin in any one of the numerous statewide tallies.

Third-party candidates and polarization

Although supporters of the compact point out that direct election is already the method by which Americans elect their members of Congress, state leaders and local officials, opponents such as du Pont have argued that a direct popular vote in presidential contests could lead to a change in the current two party system. They contend that the difficulty of winning electoral votes under the current system may discourage third party

Third party (politics)

In a two-party system of politics, the term third party is sometimes applied to a party other than the two dominant ones. While technically the term is limited to the third largest party or third oldest party, it is common, though innumerate, shorthand for any smaller party.For instance, in the...

and single-issue candidates from running, and therefore switching to a popular vote may lead more third party and single-issue candidates to enter the race. Furthermore, it is thought that an increase in the number of candidates will actually change the nature of the American political system, by preventing candidates from being too polarizing, outing a perceived media bias on both ends of the political spectrum, and making so-called 'attack ads' less politically beneficial.

Partisan advantage

Some supporters and opponents of the NPVIC have based their position at least in part on the perceived partisan advantage of the compact. Former Delaware Governor Pierre DuPont, a Republican, has argued that the compact would be an "urban power grab" and benefit Democrats. However, Saul Anuzis of the Republican National Committee wrote that Republicans "need" the compact, citing what he believes to be the center right nature of the American electorate. New Yorker essayist Hendrik Hertzberg maintains that the compact would benefit neither party by noting that historically both Republicans and Democrats have been successful in winning the popular vote in past presidential elections.

Electoral votes not necessarily awarded to statewide winner

Two governors who have vetoed NPVIC legislation, Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....

of California and Linda Lingle

Linda Lingle

Linda Lingle was the sixth Governor of Hawaii. Lingle holds a number of distinctions: first Republican elected governor of Hawaii since the departure of William F...

of Hawaii, both in 2007, objected to the compact on the grounds that it could require their states' electoral votes to be awarded to a candidate who did not win statewide. Both states have since enacted laws joining the compact. Supporters of the compact have countered that under the popular vote system, the awarding of electoral votes would be effectively irrelevant; that giving the state's electoral votes to the national winner would be a mere symbolic formality with no political meaning, because the popular vote would have already determined the outcome.

Legality

Supporters believe the compact is legal because Article II of the US Constitution establishes the plenary power of the states to appoint their electors in any manner they see fit:

The Supreme Court affirmed this position as recently as 2000 in Bush v. Gore
Bush v. Gore
Bush v. Gore, , is the landmark United States Supreme Court decision on December 12, 2000, that effectively resolved the 2000 presidential election in favor of George W. Bush. Only eight days earlier, the United States Supreme Court had unanimously decided the closely related case of Bush v...

. These supporters include Jamie Raskin

Jamie Raskin

Jamie Raskin is an American law professor and politician. He teaches at American University, Washington College of Law, in Washington, D.C. He serves as the Director of the college's LL.M. program on Law and Government...

, who co-sponsored the first NPVIC bill to be signed into law, and Akhil Reed Amar

Akhil Reed Amar

Akhil Reed Amar is an American legal scholar, an expert on constitutional law and criminal procedure. Having been the Southmayd Professor of Law at Yale Law School, he was named the Sterling Professor of Law there in 2008...

and Vikram Amar

Vikram Amar

Vikram David Amar is professor and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the UC Davis School of Law . Before becoming a professor, he clerked for Judge William A. Norris of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and for Justice Harry Blackmun at the Supreme Court of the...

, who are among the nation's more visible scholars in constitutional law and who were the compact's original proponents.

David Gringer, however, suggests that the NPVIC could potentially violate the Voting Rights Act

Voting Rights Act

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of national legislation in the United States that outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the U.S....

depending on how the Supreme Court would define "coalitional" or "influence" districts. Robert Richie, executive director of FairVote, disputed such claims and said he was "confident in the legality of a rule change that treats all voters equally and is founded on the power given by the Constitution to the states."

Gringer also assailed the NPVIC as "an end-run

End run

An end run in football is a running play in which the player carrying the ball tries to avoid being tackled by evading the defending players from the opposing team...

around the constitutional amendment process." Raskin has responded: "the term 'end run' has no known constitutional or legal meaning. More to the point, to the extent that we follow its meaning in real usage, the 'end run' is a perfectly lawful play." Raskin argues that the adoption of the term "end run" by the compact's opponents is a tacit acknowledgment of the plan's legality.

Necessity of congressional approval

Supporters of the compact believe the compact would be valid without congressional approval, but some critics maintain that the congressional approval is necessary before the NPVIC can go into effect. According to Every Vote Equal
Every Vote Equal
Every Vote Equal is a 2006 book addressing the rationales, strategies, and legal and administrative issues associated with the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. It was made available online by National Popular Vote Inc. for free....

, although Article I, Section 10 of the Constitution requires that interstate compacts receive the consent of Congress, the U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...

has ruled in Virginia v. Tennessee
Virginia v. Tennessee
Virginia v. Tennessee, 148 U.S. 503 , was a decision of the United States Supreme Court, which had two questions: What is the correct boundary between the two states, and if the boundary was inaccurately set, can the state ask the court to change it? Does an agreement setting the boundary...

, , and several more recent cases, that such consent is not necessary except where a compact encroaches on federal supremacy. Every Vote Equal argues that the compact could never encroach upon federal power since the Constitution explicitly gives the power of casting electoral votes to the states, not the federal government. Derek Muller, an opponent of the compact, argues that the NPVIC would nonetheless affect the federal system in such a way that it requires Congressional approval. Regardless, supporters of the NPVIC plan to seek congressional approval if the compact is approved by a sufficient number of states.

History

The idea of abolishing the Electoral College by constitutional amendment

Article Five of the United States Constitution

Article Five of the United States Constitution describes the process whereby the Constitution may be altered. Altering the Constitution consists of proposing an amendment and subsequent ratification....

has existed for some time (see Every Vote Counts Amendment

Every Vote Counts Amendment

The Every Vote Counts Amendment is a joint resolution to amend the United States Constitution, providing for the popular election of the president and vice president under a new electoral system. This proposed amendment would abolish the electoral college in United States presidential elections...

). Though voting rights and electoral rules have been modified by constitutional amendment in the past, such amendments are difficult to pass because they require supermajorities

Supermajority

A supermajority or a qualified majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level or type of support which exceeds a simple majority . In some jurisdictions, for example, parliamentary procedure requires that any action that may alter the rights of the minority has a supermajority...

in the House and Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

together with the support of three-fourths of the state legislatures.

Academic plan

In 2001 Northwestern University law professor Robert Bennett suggested a plan in an academic publication to implement a National Popular Vote through a mechanism that would embrace state legislatures’ power to appoint electors, rather than resist that power. By coordinating, states constituting a majority of the Electoral College could effectively implement a popular vote.

Law professors (and brothers) Akhil Reed Amar

Akhil Reed Amar

and Vikram Amar

Vikram Amar

defended the constitutionality of such a plan. They proposed that a group of states, through legislation, form a compact wherein they agree to give all of their electoral votes to the national popular vote winner, regardless of the balance of votes in their own state. These state laws would only be triggered

Trigger law

A trigger law is a nickname for a law that is unenforceable and irrelevant in the present, but may achieve relevance and enforceability if a key change circumstances occur.-Examples:...

once the compact included enough states to control a majority of the electoral college (270 votes), thus guaranteeing that the national popular vote winner would also win the electoral college.

The academic plan uses two constitutional features:

Presidential Electors Clause in Article 2, section 1, clause 2 which gives each state the power to determine the manner in which its electors are selected.
Compact Clause, Article I, section 10, clause 3 under which it creates an enforceable compact.

The Amar brothers noted that such a plan could be enacted by the passage of laws in as few as eleven states and would probably not require Congressional approval, though this is not certain (see Debate below).

Organization and advocacy

In 2006, John Koza

John Koza

John R. Koza is a computer scientist and a former consulting professor at Stanford University, most notable for his work in pioneering the use of genetic programming for the optimization of complex problems. He was a cofounder of Scientific Games Corporation, a company which built computer systems...

, a computer science professor at Stanford, was the lead author of Every Vote Equal

Every Vote Equal

Every Vote Equal is a 2006 book addressing the rationales, strategies, and legal and administrative issues associated with the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. It was made available online by National Popular Vote Inc. for free....

, a book that makes a detailed case for his plan for an interstate compact to establish National Popular Vote. (Koza had previously had exposure to interstate compacts from his work with state lottery commissions after inventing the scratch-off lottery ticket

Scratchcard

A scratchcard is a small card, often made of thin paper-based card for competitions and plastic to conceal PINs, where one or more areas contain concealed information which can...

).) That year, Koza, Barry Fadem and others formed National Popular Vote

National Popular Vote Inc.

National Popular Vote Inc. is a non-profit organization based in Los Altos, California, launched in 2006 by Barry Fadem and John Koza, and led by Fadem, Koza and businessman, reform advocate and past Independence Party candidate for Governor of New York B. Thomas Golisano...

, a non-profit group to promote the legislation. The group has a transpartisan advisory committee including former US Senators Jake Garn

Jake Garn

Edwin Jacob "Jake" Garn is an American politician, a member of the Republican Party, and served as a U.S. Senator representing Utah from 1974 to 1993...

, Birch Bayh

Birch Bayh

Birch Evans Bayh II is a former United States Senator from Indiana, having served from 1963 to 1981. He was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in the 1976 election, but lost to Jimmy Carter. He is the father of former Indiana Governor and former U.S. Senator Evan Bayh.-Life...

, and David Durenberger

David Durenberger

David Ferdinand Durenberger is an American politician and a former Republican member of the U.S. Senate from Minnesota.- Early life :...

, and former Representatives John Anderson

John B. Anderson

John Bayard Anderson is a former United States Congressman and Presidential candidate from Illinois. He was a U.S. Representative from the 16th Congressional District of Illinois for ten terms from 1961 through 1981 and an Independent candidate in the 1980 presidential election. He was previously...

, John Buchanan

John Hall Buchanan, Jr.

John Hall Buchanan, Jr. served as a United States Congressman from Alabama's 6th congressional district.- Early life :...

, and Tom Campbell.

By the time of the group's opening news conference in February 2006, the proposed interstate compact had been introduced in the Illinois legislature. With backing from National Popular Vote, the NPVIC legislation was introduced in five additional state legislatures in the 2006 session. It passed in the Colorado Senate and in both houses of the California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

legislature before being vetoed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Adoption

In 2007, NPVIC legislation was introduced in 42 state legislatures. It was passed by legislative chambers in Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

and North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, as well as both houses of the Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

legislature, where it was prevented from becoming law by a veto from Governor Linda Lingle

Linda Lingle

Linda Lingle was the sixth Governor of Hawaii. Lingle holds a number of distinctions: first Republican elected governor of Hawaii since the departure of William F...

. The bill was also passed by both houses in Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

, which became the first state to join the compact when Governor Martin O'Malley

Martin O'Malley

Martin Joseph O'Malley is an American Democratic politician who is currently serving as the 61st Governor of Maryland. Previously, he served as the mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007. He is currently the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association.-Early life, education and career:O'Malley...

signed it into law on April 10, 2007.

New Jersey

New Jersey

became the second state to enter the compact when Governor Jon S. Corzine signed the bill into law on January 13, 2008. Illinois

Illinois

became the third state to join when Governor Rod Blagojevich

Rod Blagojevich

Rod R. Blagojevich is an American politician who served as the 40th Governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A Democrat, Blagojevich was a State Representative before being elected to the United States House of Representatives representing parts of Chicago...

signed it into law on April 7, 2008
and Hawaii

Hawaii

became the fourth on May 1, 2008 after the legislature overrode a second veto from the governor.
Washington became the fifth state to join when Gov. Christine Gregoire

Christine Gregoire

Christine O'Grady "Chris" Gregoire is the 22nd and current Governor of the state of Washington, and a member of the Democratic Party. Gregoire defeated Republican candidate Dino Rossi in 2004, and again in 2008. She is the second female governor of Washington...

signed it into law on April 28, 2009. Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

became the sixth state to join when Governor Deval Patrick

Deval Patrick

Deval Laurdine Patrick is the 71st and current Governor of Massachusetts. A member of the Democratic Party, Patrick served as an Assistant United States Attorney General under President Bill Clinton...

signed it into law on August 4, 2010. The District of Columbia entered into the compact when the bill was signed by Mayor Adrian Fenty

Adrian Fenty

Adrian Malik Fenty was the sixth, and at age 36, the youngest, mayor of the District of Columbia. He served one term—from 2007 to 2011—losing his bid for reelection at the primary level to Democrat Vincent C. Gray...

on October 12, 2010. (Neither House of Congress objected to the passage of the bill during the review period of 30 legislative days in each house following that date, thus allowing the District's action to proceed.) Vermont

Vermont

Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

joined the compact when Governor Peter Shumlin signed it into law on April 22, 2011. California entered the compact on August 8, 2011, with Governor Jerry Brown

Jerry Brown

Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California , and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor...

's signature.

NPVIC legislation has been introduced in all the 50 states. In addition to the enacting jurisdictions, states where one chamber has adopted the NPVIC legislation are Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina and Oregon. In Colorado and Rhode Island, the legislation has passed in both chambers. Bills to repeal the compact have been introduced in Maryland

Maryland

and New Jersey

New Jersey

, but both failed.

Two measures titled "Presidential Electors. Allocation by National Popular Vote. Interstate Agreement. Statute" were filed as California ballot proposition

California ballot proposition

In California, a ballot proposition is a proposed law that is submitted to the electorate for approval in a direct vote . It may take the form of a constitutional amendment or an ordinary statute. A ballot proposition may be proposed by the State Legislature or by a petition signed by members of...

s, but failed to get on the ballot. These attempted ballot propositions were obviated by the legislative passage of the NPVIC in California in August 2011.

Jurisdictions enacting law to join National Popular Vote Interstate Compact
No.	Jurisdiction	Current Electoral votes (EV)
1	Maryland Maryland Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...	10
2	New Jersey New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...	14
3	Illinois Illinois Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...	20
4	Hawaii Hawaii Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...	4
5	Washington	12
6	Massachusetts Massachusetts The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...	11
7	District of Columbia	3
8	Vermont Vermont Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...	3
9	California California California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...	55
Total		132 (48.9% of the 270 EV needed)

State-by-state legislative history and status

The table below lists significant attempts at enacting a national popular vote bill—specifically, those attempts that resulted in a floor vote in at least one legislative house, or that are pending in a state's current legislative session. Bills which failed without receiving a floor vote are not listed. The "EVs" column indicates the current number of electoral votes a state has. This number may have changed since a bill's introduction due to reapportionment

United States congressional apportionment

United States congressional apportionment is the process by which seats in the United States House of Representatives are redistributed amongst the 50 states following each constitutionally mandated decennial census. Each state is apportioned a number of seats which approximately corresponds to its...

following the 2010 Census.

State	EVs	Session	Bill(s)	Lower house	Upper house	Executive
Alaska Alaska Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...	3	2011–12	SB 39	—		—
Arkansas Arkansas Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...	6	2007	HB 1703			—
Arkansas Arkansas Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...	6	2009	HB 1339			—
California California California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...	55	2005–06	AB 2948
California California California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...	55	2007–08	SB 37
California California California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...	55	2011	AB 459
Colorado Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...	9	2006	SB 06-223			—
Colorado Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...	9	2007	SB 07-046			—
Colorado Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...	9	2009	HB 1299			—
Connecticut Connecticut Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...	7	2009	HB 6437			—
District of Columbia	3	2009–10	B18-0769	align=center bgcolor=#FFB colspan=2
Delaware Delaware Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...	3	2009–10	HB 198			—
Delaware Delaware Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...	3	2011	HB 55			—
Georgia Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...	16	2011–12	HB 667		—	—
Hawaii Hawaii Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...	4	2007	HB 234, SB 1956
Hawaii Hawaii Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...	4	2008	HB 3013, SB 2898
Illinois Illinois Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...	21	2007–08	HB 858, HB 1685, SB 78
Iowa Iowa Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...	6	2011–12	SF 277	—		—
Kansas Kansas Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...	6	2011–12	SB 242	—		—
Maine Maine Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...	4	2007–08	LD 1744			—
Maryland Maryland Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...	10	2007	HB 148, SB 634
Massachusetts Massachusetts The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...	12	2007–08	HB 4952, SB 445
Massachusetts Massachusetts The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...	12	2009–10	H 4156
Michigan Michigan Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....	17	2007–08	HB 6610			—
Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...	10	2011-12	HF495 / SF1241	—		—
Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....	5	2011-12	LB 583	in committee		—
Nevada Nevada Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...	5	2009	AB 413			—
New Jersey New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...	15	2006–07	A 4225, S 2695
New Mexico New Mexico New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...	5	2009	HB 383			—
New York New York New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...	31	2009–10	S2286A / A1580B			—
New York New York New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...	29	2011	S4208 / A00489			—
North Carolina North Carolina North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...	15	2007–08	H1645, S954			—
North Carolina North Carolina North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...	15	2011–12	S639	—		—
Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...	7	2011	SB 841	—		—
Oregon Oregon Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...	7	2009	HB 2588			—
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...	20	2011	HB 1270, SB 1116			—
Rhode Island Rhode Island The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...	4	2008	H 7707, S 2112
Rhode Island Rhode Island The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...	4	2009	HB 5569, SB 161			—
Rhode Island Rhode Island The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...	4	2011	HB 5659, SB 164			—
South Carolina South Carolina South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...	9	2011–12	S860, H4154			—
Tennessee Tennessee Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...	11	2011	HB 1302, SB 1024			—
Vermont Vermont Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...	3	2007–08	H 373, S 270
Vermont Vermont Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...	3	2009–10	S 34			—
Vermont Vermont Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...	3	2011–12	S 31
Washington	11	2007–08	HB 1750, SB 5628			—
Washington	11	2009–10	HB 1598, SB 5599
West Virginia West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...	5	2011–12	SB 322, HB 2378			—