What to know:
- A state-level compact would bypass the Electoral College by pledging all member electoral votes to the national popular vote winner.
- The pact holds 222 of the required 270 electoral votes; adding Michigan and four other swing states would push it to 283.
- Passing it faces steep political resistance in state legislatures, likely followed by challenges in Congress and the Supreme Court.
Recent elections reopened a potential path to effectively neutralize the Electoral College without a constitutional amendment -- and Michigan could play a pivotal role.
How would that work?
Americans do not directly elect the president. Instead, each state receives electoral votes equal to its congressional delegation: House members plus two senators, totaling 538 nationwide. That’s why Michigan has 15.
In 48 states, the system is winner-take-all, meaning a candidate can win the national popular vote by millions yet still lose the White House, as occurred in 2016.
There were similar upsets in 1824, 1876, 1888 and 2000.
That’s where the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact comes in.
Under the NPVIC, member states pledge to award all their electoral votes to the national popular vote winner, regardless of state-level results. So far, 18 states and Washington, D.C., representing 222 electoral votes, have joined.
However, the compact remains dormant until it reaches the 270 electoral votes required to win the presidency.
What’s changed?
New legislative majorities in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin and Nevada could provide the remaining votes to push the total to 283.
However, the Michigan Legislature declined to pass the measure when the Democratic Party held majorities in recent years, and any enacted compact would face steep hurdles before Congress and the Supreme Court.
And that’s only if those states pass it to begin with.
