In an ironic twist, Donald Trump's presidential win in 2024, where for the first time in three tries he won the popular vote, has given a boost to activists who are pushing individual states to change how they tally Electoral College votes.
According to a report from the Washington Post, the people behind the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact created in 2006 has been given new life by the Trump win.
Under the compact, states would award their electoral college votes "to whichever presidential candidate wins the popular vote, not necessarily the one who wins their state."
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As the Post's Dan Merica and Matthew Choi elaborated, the new way of accounting would "kick in only when states that add up to the needed 270 electoral votes adopt it."
The compact, which has been adopted by 17 states, is undergoing a revival that has the people behind it more optimistic than ever.
“When I started the project, I was saying to myself, ‘This is going to be the most important political reform of my lifetime if it happens,’ Now I can tell you it’s going to be the most important political reform of my lifetime when it happens. It’s just a matter of time," enthused Patrick Rosenstiel, senior consultant for the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.
With the Post reporting, "Trump’s 2024 victory — in both the electoral college and popular vote — could represent a watershed moment for the movement, however," Rosenthiel added, "It’s starting to normalize a little bit. You see a movement of the American voters supporting the national popular vote for president, and I think there is only one way to get one, and that is with our plan.”
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