Democrats who have just triumphed in a number of battlegrounds are facing pressure to make their states a little less powerful in the fight for the presidency.
The party’s resounding victories provide an opportunity for Democrats in states with recent three-way wins to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an interstate agreement to ensure that whoever wins the national popular vote becomes president by awarding their Electoral College votes to that winner, rather than the winner of the most votes in their state.
The compact would take effect when enacted in states whose combined electoral vote total is at least 270. Currently, 18 historically blue states and Washington DC have joined the compact, a two-decade-old nonpartisan project, with a total of 222 electoral votes.
This means that if Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin join, along with Arizona or Nevada, the pact would take effect in all member states, allowing the next president to be elected by winning the popular vote while losing the electoral college. All five states will now be under unified Democratic control starting next year.
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