A national effort to circumvent the Electoral College has gained another state.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed a bill Monday that adds the state to the National Popular Vote Compact, an agreement among states to award their presidential electoral votes to the nationwide popular vote winner.
With Virginia, the total number of states signed on to the interstate compact is now 18, plus the District of Columbia, for a total of 222 electoral votes.
The compact doesn’t go into effect, though, until there are enough states signed up to reach the required 270 electoral votes to elect a president.
Because without 270 votes, this could result in states that sign having even less impact, resulting in them not signing. As an example, imagine it goes into effect immediately. Now as a candidate, you have two options.
Option 1: Campaign and make promises in a state that signed and the only thing you get is more overall voters to win the popular vote and therefore the electors of states that signed. But winning the popular vote is not enough. You still need electors from other states.
Option 2: Campaign and make promises in states that did not sign. Convincing voters here not only gives you votes for the popular vote, but also for the states electors. So you gain votes both towards the electors of states that signed and this state that didn’t.
Now where would you campaign and make promises?