National Popular Vote
National Popular Vote
The LWV believes that direct election of the President is essential for a representative democratic government.
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.
The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is an agreement between states that guarantees the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and D.C.) State legislatures replace current state-level tally, "winner-take-all" laws with a law that directs all their state electors to choose as President the candidate who is the national popular vote winner. The bill would not take effect until enacted by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes -- 270 electoral votes. This bill does not abolish the Electoral College.
Minnesota just became the 16th state to enact the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact into law, with a total of 205 of the required 270 electoral votes. The compact will take effect when enacted by states with 65 more electoral votes. If NPV legislation would pass in the Missouri legislature, it would add another 10 electoral votes to the total.
Watch this video presentation that explains NPV.
October 2020 - Watch this presentation about how we elect the President and national polls
For more detailed information on National Popular Vote click a link below.
A very good source to learn everything you want to know about the National Popular Vote is https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/
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April 2023 - NPV Annual Report
Two bills, HB 829 and HB 997, were introduced in the 2023 session of the MO House of Representatives to ratify and approve the NPVIC in Mo. Members of the NPV committee contacted the sponsors of both bills to offer support.
On the contrary, two resolutions were introduced which would prohibit the State from entering into any national popular vote compact. HJR 95 was introduced late in the 2022 session and SJR 17 was introduced early in the 2023 session. Members of the NPV committee opposed both resolutions. SJR 17 has progressed to a committee hearing in 2023 and written testimony against the resolution was submitted to the Local Government and Elections committee. The resolution is still in committee and the NPV committee will continue to follow it and advocate for its defeat.
The NPV committee is committed to continuing its efforts to educate about and advocate for legislation which would allow all voters equal power in the election of the President and Vice-President.
August 2022 - LWVMO President Marilyn McLeod shared the League's position on abolishing the electoral college on KMOX radio show with Tom Ackerman and Carol Daniels on KMOX. Click here to listen to the August 8 interview.
The interview focused on a new poll from Pew Research that indicates a majority of support for eliminating the electoral college in Presidential elections. Marilyn mentions the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact that would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and D.C. while maintaining the Electoral College.
The LWVMO NPV committee has designed this NPV brochure to help you tell your friends about the National Popular Vote.
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Rep. Peter Merideth introduced an NPV bill with several cosponsors this session (HB 267). Reps. Ian Mackey and Ashley Bland Manlove introduced identical bills, HB 598 and HB 800. House Speaker Rob Vescovo did not assign any of them to a committee. Senator Jill Schupp introduced SB292 that was assigned to the Local Government and Election Committee, but Chair Sandy Crawford declined to hold a hearing as she had a full schedule and felt it was not going to pass anyway. Our committee held a Zoom on Jan. 19 to explain why our democracy needs the National Popular Vote, what NPV is, and how Missouri voters can be involved in this effort. Our goal: Make every voter equally relevant in every state in every presidential election.
The LWVUS convention included advocacy for the National Popular Vote Compact under the Making Democracy Work umbrella. This means that the LWVUS may take the initiative to help state Leagues get it passed in state legislatures. The NPV committee was very active in 2020, even taping a video last summer to educate people about NPV that’s available at YouTube/LWVMO. We created two subcommittees, one on reaching voters by various techniques, chaired by Laurie Velasquez, and the other, chaired by Bob Allen, to work on getting legislative support.
