Virginia joins a national effort to ensure only popular vote winners become president

Elections Virginia joins a national effort to ensure only popular vote winners become president April 14, 20268:34 AM ET Ashley Lopez A person marks their ballot at a polling place in Falls Church, Va., during early voting for the 2024 election. Stephanie Scarbrough/AP hide caption toggle caption Stephanie Scarbrough/AP A national effort to circumvent the Electoral College has gained another state. Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed a bill Monday that adds the state to the National Popular Vote Compact, an agreement among states to award their presidential electoral votes to the nationwide popular vote winner. With Virginia, the total number of states signed on to the interstate compact is now 18, plus the District of Columbia, for a total of 222 electoral votes. The compact doesn't go into effect, though, until there are enough states signed up to reach the required 270 electoral votes to elect a president. Sponsor Message "This [effort] started 20 years ago and it's been slow and steady … constant forward momentum across these 20 years," said Alyssa Cass, a strategist for the National Popular Vote Project and a Democratic consultant. "Bills have been introduced in almost every state, most passed in a bipartisan way. This is on the five-yard line of making this a reality." But 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. A Democratic trifecta paved the way for passage in Virginia The measure advanced in Virginia after last year's elections gave Democrats the governor's office and full control of the legislature. Democratic Virginia House of Delegates member Dan Helmer told NPR that getting the state to join the compact was at least a decade-long process. But he linked the effort to new threats against American democracy. "We have a new generation of Democrats in Virginia," he said, "and what that means is we have p...