"Nearly 6 in 10 Americans say they would prefer a system in which presidents are elected based on the popular vote."
"However, the current system is imperfect: Although electoral votes are allocated based partially on population, every state is guaranteed at least three electors, giving much smaller states a higher proportionality of votes than larger states. The result can sometimes mean a candidate who didn't win the popular vote can win the presidency through the Electoral College, which has happened several times throughout U.S. history, including twice since 2000."
""Under the current system, the presidential election is decided by voters in a handful of battleground states, while the votes of the four out of five Americans who live in safely blue or safely red states are essentially irrelevant," Alyssa Cass, a spokesperson for National Popular Vote, told Truthout."
State lawmakers in Virginia are moving to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an agreement for states to award their Electoral College votes to the candidate who wins the national popular vote. The compact relies on a constitutional provision allowing state legislatures to determine how to allocate their electors. Electoral votes allocate partly by population but guarantee each state at least three electors, giving smaller states disproportionate influence. That imbalance can allow a candidate who loses the national popular vote to win the presidency, an outcome that has occurred several times, including twice since 2000. The Electoral College concentrates campaign attention on battleground states and can discourage voters in safely blue or red states from participating.
Read at Truthout
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