And so the dominoes continue to fall. The D.C. Council yesterday approved the National Popular Vote plan that has been pending before several state legislatures. D.C.’s approval comes less than two months after Massachusetts approved the plan. Two procedural steps remain before NPV is officially enacted in D.C.: The mayor must sign the legislation and Congress has 30 days to review it. If these two hurdles are overcome, then D.C.’s approval will bring the total number of entities supporting the bill to seven: Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Washington. These six states and D.C. together hold 76 electoral votes. NPV goes into effect when states holding 270 electoral votes are committed to the pact.
As I have written before, it is also important to remember the three other state legislatures that approved the scheme but met with gubernatorial vetoes (California, Rhode Island, Vermont). A reasonable legal argument can be made that the gubernatorial vetoes are irrelevant. Thus, NPV may have as many as 138 electoral votes.
At its heart, NPV is a blatant strike at the Constitution. It tears apart a well-established institution that was admired by the Founding generation and that has served America successfully for centuries. . . . [Post continues at NationalReview.com]