As of January 27, 2017, 15 states have introduced legislation to advance a national popular vote for president to reform the Electoral College, with more bills being introduced every week. Heading into 2017, 10 states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact -- meaning that the compact is over 60% of the way to being activated, which would guarantee the presidency to the candidate who wins the national popular vote in all 50 states and DC.
Before the 2016 election, the National Popular Vote plan had become a bi-partisan policy proposal. According to National Popular Vote, in 2016 there were a total of 154 Republican state legislators and 162 Democrats who sponsored the measure in their state, and chamber wins included the Republican-controlled Arizona House and Democratic-controlled New York Assembly.
Given the polarizing nature of last year's elections, it is not surprising that this year's legislation has mostly been sponsored by Democrats. Still, we anticipate a return to bipartisanship, as the real losers in our current system are the 35 states, including nearly every small state, that are consistently spectators to our election of the president.
Visit our resource page on the National Popular Vote Interstate compact to stay up-to-date on further developments in states, and consider contacting your legislator at National Popular Vote.
Editor's note: This news update originally published on FairVote's website, and has been slightly modified for publication on IVN.
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