The National Popular Vote Compact: An End Run Around the Electoral College

This spring, Virginia joined eighteen other states and DC in the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an agreement among participating jurisdictions to award their presidential electors to the winner of the national popular vote once they collectively hold 270 electoral votes. Virginia's thirteen electoral votes bring the compact to 222, leaving it 48 short of the threshold at which it would take effect.

Is participation in the compact a legitimate exercise of state power under Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution, or does it require congressional consent under the Compact Clause or even a constitutional amendment under Article V? Join us for a discussion of Virginia’s entry, the constitutional arguments on both sides, and what the compact could mean for the future of the Electoral College.

Featuring:

• Chad Ennis, Vice President, Honest Elections Project
• Michael Williams, Solicitor General, West Virginia
• (Moderator) Allen Dickerson, Partner, Baker Hostetler

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As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.