There is a quiet revolution going on in American politics that I knew nothing about. It's called the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC), and it represents a radical change to the current electoral college system that allowed Donald Trump to win the 2016 election, despite Hillary Clinton winning the national popular vote. Under NPVIC, a state awards all of its electoral college votes to the person who wins the overall national popular vote (in 2016 this was Clinton), rather than to the candidate who wins the most votes in the state.
Oregon has just become the 15th state to vote for the new system, which now has the support of a total of 189 electoral college votes out of the 270 needed for a winning majority. The legislation will not take effect until similar bills are passed by enough states to ensure that majority, which currently means that states carrying another 81 electoral college votes are needed. According to the Compact's website, a vote in favour of the system has already passed in one of the two legislative chambers in a further nine states that would yield ... 82 electoral college votes! So, this is not some pie in the sky scheme: it seems quite likely to succeed, maybe not in time for the 2020 vote, but soon.
People have been complaining about the USA's 18th century legacy electoral college system for years. Finally, some states are putting their money where their mouths are. It holds out the tantalizing prospect of an American president that most people voted for, rather than the one best able to play the system.
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