Ballot Access News reported Wednesday that the Oregon State House passed a bill that would add Oregon to the National Popular Vote Compact (NPVC). The plan is simple: Each state that joins the NPVC commits to giving all of their Electoral College votes to the winner of the national popular vote.
Here are some facts you need to know:
- The NPVC is law in 10 states, plus the District of Columbia: California, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. Total electoral votes: 165 (See each state's status here.)
- The plan needs enough states to equal 270 electoral votes (a majority) to be enacted. That would ensure a national popular vote victory without abolishing the Electoral College.
- 90.9 percent of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump's campaign stops in 2016 were in 11 states. Two-thirds of those stops were in 4 battleground states with the most electoral votes: Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
- The winner of the Electoral College has lost the popular vote 5 times in US presidential history: 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016.
- Advocates of any NPV reform say the winner of a presidential election should never lose the popular vote.
- Advocates of keeping the Electoral College say it is crucial to give smaller states and their constituents a stronger voice in presidential elections.
The Oregon bill, HB2927, now goes to the State Senate. Ballot Access News reports that the Senate president will not block it, which he reportedly has done in previous legislative sessions.