Tuesday’s Democratic victory during the midterm elections is of such magnitude, that it could give the Democrats the votes required to successfully bypass the Electoral College by 2028, possibly changing how Americans elect their president without amending the Constitution.
According to a story by Newsmax, the victories could place 283 electoral votes within reach of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, exceeding the 270 required to trigger an agreement that would award the presidency to the candidate winning the most votes nationwide, Axios reported Wednesday.
The Newsmax story reported that the compact already includes 18 states and Washington, D.C., controlling 222 electoral votes, leaving it just 48 short of activation.
The fact is this: the new control of the Democrats now includes the governorship and both legislative chambers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Nevada. This puts an additional 61 electoral votes in play, potentially lifting the total to 283 if all five states enact the agreement.
The procedure would work like this, under the compact, states that take part would award their electoral votes to the presidential candidate who nabs the national popular vote, even if that candidate loses within his or her individual state.
Though the Electoral College would officially remain intact, the agreement would in effect stop a candidate from winning the presidency without also winning the nationwide popular vote.
The occurrence is important because the Electoral College has dictated the results of various presidential elections in which the winner failed to capture the popular vote.
A case in point is when Republican George W. Bush defeated Democrat Al Gore in 2000, following a disputed Florida recount and Supreme Court ruling, despite Gore receiving about 543,000 more votes nationwide.
In that 2000 election, Bush secured 271 electoral votes to Gore’s 266, with one elector abstaining.
In another election, President Donald Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 with 304 electoral votes to Clinton’s 227, although Clinton received almost 2.9 million more popular votes.
By contrast, Trump’s 2024 victory over Kamala Harris included both an Electoral College majority and a national popular vote victory.
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