Protesters demonstrated against President Trump outside the State Capitol in Carson City, Nev., in 2016. Criticism of the Electoral College has increased since the 2016 presidential election. Scott Sonner/Associated Press
By Jose A. Del Real and Julie Turkewitz from the New York Times
Thanks to Diane C for sending this along.
The man who helped invent scratch-off lottery tickets now has his sights set on a bigger prize: overhauling the way the United States elects presidents.
On Tuesday, Nevada became the latest state to pass a bill that would grant its electoral votes to whoever wins the popular vote across the country, not just in Nevada. The movement is the brainchild of John Koza, a co-founder of National Popular Vote, an organization that is working to eliminate the influence of the Electoral College.
If Nevada’s governor signs the bill, the state will become the 15th — plus the District of Columbia — to join an interstate pact of states promising to switch to the new system. Those states, including Nevada, have a total of 195 electoral votes. The pact would take effect once enough states have joined to guarantee the national winner 270 electoral votes, ensuring election.
Enforcement, however, could be very difficult without congressional approval, according to constitutional law experts. And the pact would be highly vulnerable to legal challenges, they say.
But while it may seem quixotic, momentum is building. So far in 2019, Colorado, New Mexico and Delaware have passed laws joining the pact. Maine and Oregon may take similar steps this year.
Mr. Koza said he and his colleagues have been lobbying state legislators across the country since 2006 to enact such bills. An Electoral College hobbyist since the 1960s, he watched in frustration in 2004 as the presidential election between President George W. Bush and his Democratic opponent, John Kerry, came down to a few battleground states.
It wasn’t right, and it happened again, year after year, he said: “Everybody’s vote should count. But entire campaigns run around a couple of states and that, in turn, distorts government policy.”