Carson City – The State Assembly passed a bill on Tuesday that would make Nevada the 16th state to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. The proposal would require the state to pledge all six of its Electoral College votes to the presidential candidate who wins a majority of the national popular vote.
Hear an audio report from Suzanne Potter.
If enough states sign on, said Barry Fadem, president of the nonprofit National Popular Vote, it could go into effect for the 2024 presidential election.
“Two-hundred-seventy electoral votes worth of states, that’s the number you need to be elected president,” Fadem said. “When enough states do that, yes, those states will award their electoral votes to whoever wins the most votes in all 50 states.”
New Mexico recently joined the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, and the Oregon Senate just approved joining. If it becomes law in Nevada and Oregon, the compact would have 202 pledged delegates, 70 percent of what is needed for the popular vote to swing the Electoral College and, thus, the election.
Opponents have said the change would dilute the power of the eight to 10 “swing states” that currently have the most weight in determining the outcomes of national elections. However, Fadem said, it would give voters in every state their fair say.
“It makes every vote in every state cast for president count,” he said. “So, it doesn’t really diminish any states at all; it allows every state to participate in the presidential election.”
Twice in the past 20 years, Republicans have won the U.S. presidency with a majority in the Electoral College after winning slim majorities in battleground states, despite losing the popular vote for their candidates – namely, George W. Bush and Donald Trump.
The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact has not passed in a single so-called “red” state.
The text of Assembly Bill 186 in Nevada is online at leg.state.nv.us, and more information on the Compact is at nationalpopularvote.com.
