The LWV believes that direct election of the President is essential for a representative democratic government.

April 2024 Annual Report

Inspired by the principle of “One Person, One Vote,” highlighted in the 1963 Supreme Court Decision in Gray v. Sanders, the League has been a strong proponent of the constitutional concept of direct election of the President since the 1970s. While the abolition of the Electoral College remains a long-term priority of LWVUS, the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is seen as an intermediate step to affect the same result without having to amend the U.S. Constitution.

The NPVIC is an agreement among a group of states and the District of Columbia to award all their electoral votes to the presidential candidate that wins the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Currently, 16 states and the District of Columbia have approved the National Popular Vote Bill (same bill introduced in each state), representing 205 electoral votes. Maine (4 electoral) votes has had the bill approved in both houses and the bill will go into effect if/when the governor signs it. Once enough states pass the bill to ensure that the 270 electoral college votes necessary for election of the president are committed, the compact can go into effect. As it stands now, 65 more electoral votes (61 if the bill is signed in Maine) are needed to put the compact in effect.

The National Popular Vote Bill has been introduced in the Missouri legislature many times since 2008 and passed committee in both houses in 2016. The last time that it was introduced was in the 2023 legislature by Representatives Ian Mackey and Peter Mackey in two separate bills. Neither bill made it through committee in 2023 and no bill was introduced in the 2024 session. That does not mean that we have given up. We continue to follow progress of the initiative nationally, to support the efforts for its adoption in other states, and to plan to support its reintroduction in Missouri at the appropriate time.

The National Popular Vote Committee would appreciate the support of all interested members.

 –Julia Brown, Chair
Email: NPV [at] lawvstl.org

The current "winner-take-all" electoral college system allows the second-place candidate to become President. And it encourages most states to be ignored in campaigning, so voter issues in non-competitive states may not be addressed.

Direct election of the President could be accomplished a couple of ways:

• Federal: Change the U.S. Constitution to a direct election for the President including provisions for a national runoff election in the event no candidate received 40% of the vote. (This is very hard to do.)
• Or, States: The states could pass laws that would recognize the winner of the election is the candidate who receives the most votes in all 50 states and D.C.

     Watch this video presentation that explains NPV.

Watch this presentation about how we elect the President and national polls