Democrats weigh abolishing Electoral College
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
Democrats won legislatures and governorships in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin and Nevada this week.
Those states have not joined the compact to award electoral votes by national popular vote.
Background
The Electoral College is the state-by-state system the US uses to elect presidents. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, introduced in 2006, is an agreement in which member states would give all their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote; it takes effect once members hold 270 electoral votes. It has been passed by 19 states holding 222 electoral votes. After this week's midterms, Democrats control the legislatures and governorships in five states that have not joined the compact, which is why the idea is being discussed again.
How it unfolded
- Nov 3, 2026Democrats took control of state legislatures and governorships in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin and Nevada, none of which has agreed to the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.
- Nov 3, 2026KIRO hosts Jake and Spike debated Washington's push to bypass the Electoral College.
- Nov 4, 2026Truthout reported Democrats now have the opportunity to implement a popular vote model for electing presidents.
- Nov 4, 2026The New Republic reported that if all five flipped states join the compact, electoral votes apportioned by the national popular vote would reach 283.
Key terms
- Electoral College
- A group of presidential electors formed every four years to vote for the president and vice president of the United States.
- National Popular Vote Interstate Compact
- An agreement among U.S. states and D.C. to award all their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote.
- midterms
- US general elections held near the midpoint of a president's four-year term, when all House seats and about a third of Senate seats are contested.
Source: Wikipedia
Who’s saying what
- Support
- KIRO host Spike said the Electoral College is "pretty much just a delivery service" and that "It's majority rule. We elect everything on majority rule."
- Caution
- KIRO host Jake said the compact works around the Constitution rather than changing it, and warned candidates would ignore anywhere that is not "the coastal giant cities."
- Caution
- Nevada's Democratic governor vetoed the compact in 2019, saying it would hurt the state's role in presidential elections.
Still unverified
Whether Democrats in the newly flipped states will make the compact a priority is open; The New Republic says it "all depends on whether Democrats in these states think that the compact is a priority." The New Republic also raises potential constitutional issues, noting Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3 prohibits interstate compacts without Congress's consent, and says Republicans would "undoubtedly" try to block the effort.