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Democrats Eye Bypassing Electoral College by 2028
· Confirmed
In Short: Democrats are pushing to bypass the Electoral College by 2028 through the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.
The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which has already been approved by 18 states and the District of Columbia, is now just 48 electoral votes short of the 270 needed to take effect.
According to a YouGov poll from June 2026, 56% of adults believe a president should be elected by popular vote, not the Electoral College.
The compact would require participating states to award their electoral votes to the national popular vote winner, regardless of the outcome in their state.
Steven Rogers, a political-science professor at Saint Louis University, noted that Democrats have been focused on the Electoral College since 2016, when they won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College.
Virginia's recent addition of 13 electoral votes brought the compact closer to activation, with only four more states needed to reach the required 270 votes.
If the compact is activated, it could effectively nullify the Electoral College and give high-population, blue states a dominant position in selecting presidents.
Former President Donald Trump's attempt to hold onto power on January 6, 2021, by sending a violent mob to stop the certification of the electoral votes could not have happened if the president were chosen by a simple majority.
The compact could be activated if four additional states join, pushing the total to 272 electoral votes.
Virginia's recent addition of 13 electoral votes brought the compact closer to activation, with only four more states needed to reach the required 270 votes.
National Popular Vote (NPV), the nonprofit organization that authored the compact, says it has identified multiple legislative sponsors in each of the five states whose combined electoral votes could push the compact over the 270-vote threshold.
The compact could take effect if states representing at least 270 electoral votes join before July 20, 2028.
If successful, the move could effectively nullify the Electoral College and give high-population, blue states a dominant position in selecting presidents.
What this adds
The compact could be activated if four additional states join, pushing the total to 272 electoral votes.
Steven Rogers, a political-science professor at Saint Louis University, noted that Democrats were focused on the Electoral College after 2016, but that focus has waned in recent years.
Background
The compact could be activated if four additional states join, pushing the total to 272 electoral votes.
Steven Rogers, a political-science professor at Saint Louis University, noted that Democrats were focused on the Electoral College after 2016, but that focus has waned in recent years.
What's confirmed
- If these states join the compact, they would join the coalition and provide enough electoral votes to activate it.
- The possibility comes through the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC), an agreement that would require participating states to award their presidential electors to the winner of the nationwide popular vote once states representing at least 270 electoral votes have joined.
- That requirement kicks in once participating states hold an Electoral College majority of at least 270 electoral votes.
- Participating states would collectively deliver an electoral majority to the candidate receiving the most votes across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., including states that refuse to join.
- Next, they groan as Democrats gained enough power in enough states to complete their quest to make the winner of the popular vote – and not the Electoral College – the victor in presidential elections.
What's still developing
- “It’s a very real possibility that enough states join this compact,” he said.
- A quick gander at left-leaning media today shows more than a little exuberance for obliterating the Electoral College—seen as impediment step toward securing the Left’s permanent power— once and for all.
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- And somehow, despite this flagrant lawlessness, he had won more convincingly than ever before, winning not only the Electoral College but also, for the first time, the popular vote, thanks in part to unprecedented gains with Black, Latino, and young voters, particularly men.
- Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is standing against Flávio Bolsonaro in the first round of the presidential race Brazil’s president is directly elected: each voter’s ballot counts equally and there is no electoral college.
- Harris urged Democrats to pursue changes such as expanding the Supreme Court, granting statehood to Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, and reconsidering the Electoral College.
- While the plan faces likely legal challenges, such changes would affect the population numbers used to determine each state's share of representatives in Congress and votes in the Electoral College, redraw maps of voting districts for all levels of government and distribute federal funding for public services.
- Once a critic of the college, I began to change my own views years ago while writing Rage and the Republic and exploring the growing challenges to our constitutional system.
- The Democrats know that they are unlikely to attain a veto-proof majority.
- After the midterm elections, the Democrats are moving in for the kill.
- For decades, many Democrats have sought to have the presidency decided by the national popular vote rather than state-by-state Electoral College results.
- "Look at our initiatives on universal childcare," she added.