The National Popular Vote

In our very first podcast at Democracy on the Move, Vermont State Senator Christopher Pearson drops by to talk about the National Popular Vote organization. National Popular Vote is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the promotion of something called the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact -- an agreement among states to send all their presidential electors corresponding to the winner of the nationwide popular vote. Essentially, it holds states to an agreement to get around the arcane rules of the electoral college by guaranteeing that the winner of the national popular vote is sent to the White House.

The most recent presidential election illustrates the problem that the National Popular Vote organization is trying to solve. The presidential popular vote wasn't even close, yet we all collectively held our breath waiting for a few thousand votes from key swing states to determine the actual outcome. Luckily, these swing state votes aligned with the popular vote, but it could have easily gone the other way; a few thousand votes could have canceled out over 5 million other votes. It’s not fair, right? Indeed, but in this century alone, we've seen two instances where the presidency was granted to the second-place winner.

Yes, the electoral system was put in place by the constitution, but that doesn’t mean that we’re powerless to do anything about it. The Interstate Compact will guarantee that the winner of the popular vote is granted the presidency without running afoul of the constitution.

Listen in as Senator Pearson describes the details of how this Interstate compact works, how both Democrats and Republicans are working together to make it happen, and how it will change the way presidential campaigns are run.