Eleanor Finch
The Electoral College has been a topic of debate for decades, with over 700 attempts to reform or abolish it. The College is a constitutionally mandated system for electing the US president, established by Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution. While there have been calls to abolish it, doing so would require a constitutional amendment, which is a challenging process. A more feasible alternative is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC), which leverages the constitutional guarantee that states can determine how they award their electoral votes. This compact aims to effectively abolish the Electoral College by co-opting states into accepting a national popular vote regime.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Most popular alternative | National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) |
| NPVIC basis | Constitutional guarantee that states are free to determine how they award their electoral votes |
| Constitutional amendment requirement | Consent of two-thirds of Congress and three-fourths of the states |
| Latest constitutional amendment proposal | December 16, 2024, by Democratic Senators Brian Schatz, Dick Durbin, and Peter Welch |
| Alternative to constitutional amendment | National Popular Vote Compact (NPV) |
| NPV trigger | 270 out of 538 electoral votes |
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What You'll Learn
The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC)
The NPVIC was introduced in 2006, and as of May 2025, it has been joined by 17 states and the District of Columbia, totalling 209 electoral votes, or 39% of the Electoral College. The compact will only come into effect when it has the support of states with 270 electoral votes, which is 77% of the votes needed to give the compact legal force.
The NPVIC does not eliminate the Electoral College or affect faithless elector laws; it merely changes how electors are pledged by the participating states. It is based on the constitutional guarantee that states are free to determine the manner in which they award their electoral votes.
The 2000 US presidential election, in which Al Gore carried the popular vote but lost the Electoral College vote to George W. Bush, sparked studies and proposals from scholars and activists on electoral college reform, ultimately leading to the NPVIC.
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State-level changes to how electors are chosen
The Electoral College system is deeply entrenched in the US Constitution, and abolishing it would require a constitutional amendment. However, the Constitution and the courts have allowed states some flexibility in how their Electoral College representatives are chosen.
One approach that has gained traction is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC). This compact leverages the constitutional guarantee that states are free to determine how they award their electoral votes. By joining the NPVIC, states commit to awarding their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote, regardless of the outcome within their state. This effectively bypasses the Electoral College without requiring a constitutional amendment.
The NPVIC has been steadily gaining support, and once enough states join to collectively represent a majority of electoral votes (270 out of 538), the compact will take effect. This strategy has sparked debate, with critics arguing that it could diminish the influence of smaller states in the presidential election process. Nevertheless, proponents of the NPVIC view it as a viable mechanism to implement change without navigating the challenging path of a constitutional amendment.
In conclusion, while abolishing the Electoral College outright necessitates a constitutional amendment, states possess the autonomy to implement changes in how their electors are chosen. The NPVIC has emerged as a prominent alternative, aiming to achieve a similar outcome by redirecting electoral votes based on the national popular vote. The success of this compact hinges on sufficient state participation to reach the required threshold of electoral votes.
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Direct popular vote
The Electoral College, established by Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, has faced over 700 attempts to reform or abolish it. The College has been criticised as a "ticking time bomb" that could erode American democracy. The most popular alternative is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC). This system is based on the constitutional guarantee that states can determine how they award their electoral votes.
In 1979, a Senate vote to establish a direct popular vote failed by just three votes. In 2005, Representative Gene Green introduced legislation to abolish the Electoral College and have every presidential election determined by a plurality of the national vote. Similar joint resolutions were introduced by Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. and Senator Bill Nelson. All three resolutions died in committee during the 111th Congress.
In 2016, Senator Barbara Boxer introduced a proposal to abolish the Electoral College and provide for the direct popular election of the President and Vice President by the voters in the various states and the District of Columbia. Companion resolutions were introduced in the House of Representatives in 2017. Polling has shown that a majority of Americans, particularly Democrats, support a direct popular vote.
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Constitutional amendment
The Electoral College was established by the Founding Fathers as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and the election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens. The term "electoral college" does not appear in the Constitution, but since the Electoral College process is part of the original design of the U.S. Constitution, a Constitutional amendment is required to change or abolish it.
A Constitutional amendment is a change to the United States Constitution. Amendments can be proposed by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress or by a national convention called by Congress in response to requests from two-thirds of the state legislatures. After an amendment is proposed, it must be ratified by three-fourths of the states to become part of the Constitution.
There have been numerous proposals to amend the Constitution to abolish the Electoral College. For example, in 1969, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Emanuel Celler of New York proposed a measure, H.J. Res. 681, which would have replaced the Electoral College with the national popular vote and a runoff election if no candidate received at least 40% of the nationwide vote. This measure was approved in the Judiciary Committee but did not pass the full House.
More recently, in 2019, Senators Brian Schatz, Dick Durbin, and Peter Welch introduced a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College and provide for the direct election of the President and Vice President by popular vote. This amendment, known as H.J.Res.7, was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary but did not become law.
In addition to these efforts, there have been over 700 proposals introduced in Congress to reform or eliminate the Electoral College, and public opinion polls have shown that a majority of Americans have favored abolishing it at various points in time.
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National Popular Vote Compact (NPV)
The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC or NPV) is a popular alternative method to abolishing the Electoral College without a constitutional amendment. It is a straightforward system that leverages the constitutional guarantee that states are free to determine how they award their electoral votes.
The NPV is an agreement between a group of U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award all their electoral votes to whichever presidential candidate wins the overall popular vote in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. This means that when a state passes legislation to join the NPV, it agrees to award its electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote, regardless of who wins the most votes in that state.
The compact will only go into effect when enough states have joined to reach a majority of electoral votes—270 out of 538. At that point, the NPV would effectively abolish the Electoral College and force all states, including those that have not joined the compact, to accept the outcome of the national popular vote.
Supporters of the NPV argue that it is a way to ensure that the president is elected by a majority of Americans, rather than through the Electoral College system, which has allowed candidates to win the presidency without winning the popular vote. Critics, however, argue that the NPV would reduce the political influence of smaller states, as the power to elect the president would rest primarily with the largest states and cities.
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Frequently asked questions
The Electoral College is the process of electing the US president. It is a group of people that represent each state and cast their votes for president and vice president.
Some people believe that the Electoral College is undemocratic because it is possible for a candidate to win the Electoral College and become president without winning the popular vote. This has happened twice in the last 20 years.
The NPVIC is a system that aims to bypass the Electoral College by guaranteeing that states are free to determine how they award their electoral votes. Once enough states have joined the compact to reach a majority of electoral votes, the NPVIC will go into effect and effectively abolish the Electoral College.
Those who oppose abolishing the Electoral College argue that it would reduce the political influence of smaller states and that it is a fair and transparent system that has worked for over 200 years.
It is unlikely that the Electoral College will be abolished without a constitutional amendment due to the high level of consensus required for such an amendment to pass. However, the NPVIC provides a potential alternative route to achieving the same outcome.
