Politico magazine ran a lengthy feature piece on Wednesday that looked into a new campaign to end the Electoral College. But it’s not what you think.
The plan called the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact — referenced as “Compact” for short — doesn’t call for the Electoral College to end by Constitutional amendment.
“Rather than abolishing the Electoral College via constitutional amendment, state legislatures would change their laws to award their electoral votes to whoever wins the most votes nationwide, regardless of state-by-state results,” Politico reported.
Indeed, Article II of the Constitution gives states the right to choose their electors how they want. For example, Maine and Nebraska vote based on congressional district.
This plan would only need enough states to equal the 270 win total. As Politico reported, “those states automatically throw their votes to the popular winner, and— regardless of what non-Compact states do — the leader of the free world will suddenly be determined by the full balance of voters in the union.”
The plan first came to light in 2006, and it’s hovered around politicians for years. Legislators have debated back and forth over the idea. Oregon, a traditionally blue state, voted it down for the third time just this past year,
But Utah has supported the bill.
“Meanwhile, on the Republican side, key lawmakers in ultra conservative Utah have been whipping support for the Compact, emphasizing one parochial point: It would level the playing field with neighboring Colorado, a key swing state that gets outsize attention from Washington,” according to Politico.
And so supporter Saul Anuzis, a former chairman of the Michigan GOP, hopes to target Utah “in pursuit of a symbolic breakthrough.”
Read more at Politico.