This week, Gov. Janet Mills allowed L.D. 1578, “An Act to Adopt an Interstate Compact to Elect the President of the United States by National Popular Vote” to become law without her signature. It was just passed by the state Legislature as an act to adopt an interstate compact to elect the president of the United States by national popular vote.
While the law as it stands will not immediately take effect, it does change how Maine’s delegates to the Electoral College will vote, should the pact gain enough seats.
The idea of using the national popular vote to decide an election is not new. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact was introduced in 2006. The pact now includes states with a combined 209 electors to the college. Maine’s law is only binding if the compact reaches the number of votes required to win, the magic number being 270.
If enacted, the compact will effectively bypass the way the Electoral College operates, as well as change how Maine’s electors cast their ballots. Under the law, all four Maine delegates would cast their vote for the candidate who won the national popular vote, regardless of the way Maine voters cast their ballots. This is unlikely to occur before this year’s election.
In a statement issued about the bill, Mills said, “While I recognize concerns about presidential candidates spending less time in Maine, it is also quite possible that candidates will spend more time in every state when every vote counts equally, and I struggle to reconcile the fact that a candidate who has fewer actual votes than their opponent can still become president of the United States. Absent a ranked-choice voting circumstance, it seems to me that the person who wins the most votes should become the president. To do otherwise seemingly runs counter to the democratic foundations of our country.”
There seems to be a disconnect between the balance of power within the government and the perception by some that the country operates strictly as a democracy. Since the inception of this country’s government, there has been an effort to ensure an individual state’s rights is protected and the voice of the popular opinion is heard. This is why there is a difference in the number of senators and representatives to Congress each state has. All states have an equal say in the Senate, while the House operates more closely to a representative democracy with states having votes based more on their population.
The number of electors in the Electoral College is the same as the total number of representatives each state, district, or territory has, therefore maintaining the balance between representing state and national interests.
Some polls tend to indicate a majority of voters favor using the national popular vote to elect the president. For national elections, the rule of the land is the U.S. Constitution. Instead of a compact of states trying to end-run the established election process, a constitutional amendment would be the proper instrument to use. But amendments are much more difficult than the current process unfolding and require a much larger group to concur.
In a perfect world, the discussion and legislation that fundamentally changes the presidential election process would occur at the federal level. Without national buy-in, the compact will not inspire more trust in the election process.
If national popular elections for president are indeed the will of the people, we hope the U.S. Congress will act.
