National Popular Vote Compact Reaches 222 Electoral Votes
Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger signed legislation on April 13 making Virginia the 18th state to join the National Popular Vote Compact, bringing the compact's total to 222 electoral votes.
Objective Facts
Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger signed legislation on April 13 that enters Virginia into an interstate compact to award its electoral votes to the presidential ticket that receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, making Virginia the 18th state to join. The compact now has 222 electoral votes and remains 48 votes short of the 270 needed to activate. The legislation passed both houses of the General Assembly, mostly along party lines. Supporters say an interstate compact is a significantly easier lift than a constitutional amendment, with Democratic consultant Alyssa Cass arguing that the Constitution gives power to states to assign electors however they want, and that this has been consistently upheld even by the most conservative of courts. However, some legal scholars have argued that the framers of the Constitution explicitly rejected the idea of popular elections for president, and that electoral changes like this have historically required a constitutional change, with Patrick Valencia, now Iowa's deputy solicitor general, writing that this compact is ultimately an effort to "usurp the constitutionally required electoral procedures".
Left-Leaning Perspective
NPR reported that Democratic Virginia House of Delegates member Dan Helmer framed the compact as essential to democracy, telling the outlet "We have a new generation of Democrats in Virginia who appreciate the threats that are happening to our democracy today and are ready to take action. And the National Popular Vote Compact is one of those actions that we can take to protect American democracy right now." Christina Harvey, executive director of progressive voting-rights group Stand Up America, praised Spanberger's signature, arguing that the presidency "should be won by the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide, not just the right combination of battleground states," and called it "an important step forward for representative democracy." Democratic consultant Alyssa Cass made the central left-leaning argument that "the presidential election is decided by voters in a handful of battle states," that "the votes of 4 out of 5 Americans who live in safely blue or safely red states are essentially irrelevant," and that a popular vote model would encourage more Americans to participate in elections. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine stated "I generally think the president should be the person that wins the popular vote" and argued the Constitution does not specify how states must allocate electoral votes. The left emphasizes that an interstate compact is significantly easier than a constitutional amendment, with Cass arguing that the Constitution gives states power to assign electors however they want and this interpretation "has been consistently upheld even by the most conservative of courts" and "was designed to be supported by the language of the Constitution." Left-leaning coverage downplays or omits significant legal concerns, with NPR noting that "some legal scholars disagree" that states have such unilateral power and that some have argued the framers explicitly rejected popular elections for president. Liberal outlets emphasize that "since the turn of the century, the Democratic nominee for President has twice won the popular vote only to lose the Electoral College, and the White House," with Trump's 2016 victory highlighted as example, but give less prominence to the structural constitutional questions about whether interstate compacts can fundamentally reshape presidential election mechanics.
Right-Leaning Perspective
Fox News reported that "One of the Democratic Party's rising star governors, Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, is being slammed for signing a bill," with "Virginia Republicans railed against the bill, arguing it makes the state's votes 'NULL AND VOID'". The Virginia Republican Party condemned Spanberger, calling the move an "unconstitutional assault on our democracy" and posting on X that "Fake Moderate Spanberger just signed a bill to render Virginians' vote for president NULL AND VOID!" The Federalist argued that the compact would tie Virginia's votes to densely populated states and that the compact "would effectively allow a handful of densely populated states, like California and New York, to dictate the outcome of the election," with the outlet invoking Madison's warning about the "tyranny of the majority." Legal expert John Fishwick, former US Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, argued in local Virginia coverage that the compact is "inconsistent with the United States Constitution" and would face serious constitutional challenges, predicting that "Ultimately, there would be serious legal attacks on it, and I think the Supreme Court would find it's unconstitutional." Conservative legal analysis noted that under the compact, "each member state will be obligated to award its electors, by statute, to the candidate who wins the national popular vote, regardless of how that state's own voters actually voted," meaning "Virginians, in other words, may cast ballots for one candidate in November and watch their 13 electoral votes delivered in December to the other." Right-leaning coverage uses highly charged language to characterize Spanberger's motives, with Rep. McGuire stating she is "proving she is a radical leftist and far from moderate", and some conservative outlets omit or minimize the substantial legal arguments that states do have constitutional authority to assign electors through statute.
Deep Dive
The National Popular Vote movement emerged after the 2000 election, when former President George W. Bush, a Republican, was elected to the White House despite losing the popular vote to Democratic candidate Al Gore. This was the first time since 1888 that the winner of the presidency had lost the popular vote, and since the turn of the century, the Democratic nominee for President has twice won the popular vote only to lose the Electoral College, including Trump's 2016 victory. The compact strategy arose as a procedurally alternative to the high barrier of constitutional amendment. Notably, no Republican governor has signed or allowed the compact to enter into law, though it has passed several Republican-led chambers and committees, illustrating the deep partisan polarization even within the approach that was theoretically available to any state. Legal observers genuinely disagree on whether states have plenary power to appoint electors as the compact prescribes, or whether the compact requires congressional consent under the Constitution's Compact Clause or whether presidential election processes cannot be altered except by constitutional amendment. The left's argument rests on Article II, Section 1's grant of power to state legislatures to determine elector allocation methods—power that has indeed varied historically. Today, all but two states (Maine and Nebraska) award all their electoral votes to the single candidate with the most votes statewide, demonstrating that states do have practical freedom in this domain. However, the right's concern that aggregating multiple state election systems into a nationwide mechanism represents a qualitatively different exercise of power—one involving interstate coordination rather than unilateral state action—raises unresolved constitutional questions about whether such coordination triggers the Compact Clause. The Congressional Research Service itself has concluded that activation would generate litigation almost certainly reaching the Supreme Court. With dozens of electoral votes to go, it's unclear which other states would seek to enact the compact next, and even if it were to cross the 270 threshold, legal challenges would likely await. The compact faces a profound structural challenge: all jurisdictions that adopted the compact at that time were blue states, and political analyst Nate Silver concluded that swing states were unlikely to support a compact that reduces their influence, meaning the compact could not succeed without adoption by some red states. Virginia's Democratic sweep provides a rare window for advancing the compact, but replicating that scenario in purple or red states appears unlikely. The immediate next focus will be whether any new states move toward adoption, and whether legal challenges emerge at the 270-threshold milestone.