Agreement among the states to elect the President by national popular vote.

Article I. Membership

"Any State of the United States and the District of Columbia may become a member of this agreement by enacting this agreement."

51 jurisdictions are entitled to appoint presidential electors: the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, which acquired the right via the 23rd Amendment. A "member state" is one in which the compact has been enacted into law and is in effect.

Article II. Right of the people in member states to vote for President and Vice President

"Each member state shall conduct a statewide popular election for President and Vice President of the United States."

This article guarantees a popular election in every member state. While voters have exercised this privilege since 1880, they hold no federal constitutional right to do so. it is granted by state law. Just before the 1800 election, the Federalist-controlled legislatures of Massachusetts and New Hampshire repealed their popular-vote statutes and appointed electors themselves to head off Jeffersonian victories. Article II prevents that history from repeating itself in member states.

Article III. Manner of appointing presidential electors in member states

The heart of the compact. Each clause:

1. National popular vote total

"Prior to the time set by law for the meeting and voting by the presidential electors, the chief election official of each member state shall determine the number of votes for each presidential slate in each State of the United States and in the District of Columbia in which votes have been cast in a statewide popular election and shall add such votes together to produce a 'national popular vote total' for each presidential slate."

2. Designating the winner

"The chief election official of each member state shall designate the presidential slate with the largest national popular vote total as the 'national popular vote winner.'"

3. Certifying electoral appointments

"The presidential elector certifying official of each member state shall certify the appointment in that official's own state of the elector slate nominated in that state in association with the national popular vote winner."

4. Final determination deadline

"At least six days before the day fixed by law for the meeting and voting by the presidential electors, each member state shall make a final determination of the number of popular votes cast in the state for each presidential slate and shall communicate an official statement of such determination within 24 hours to the chief election official of each other member state."

5. Treating state determinations as conclusive

"The chief election official of each member state shall treat as conclusive an official statement containing the number of popular votes in a state for each presidential slate made by the day established by federal law for making a state's final determination conclusive as to the counting of electoral votes by Congress."

6. Tie procedure

"In event of a tie for the national popular vote winner, the presidential elector certifying official of each member state shall certify the appointment of the elector slate nominated in association with the presidential slate receiving the largest number of popular votes within that official's own state."

7. Substitute nominating authority

"If, for any reason, the number of presidential electors nominated in a member state in association with the national popular vote winner is less than or greater than that state's number of electoral votes, the presidential candidate on the presidential slate that has been designated as the national popular vote winner shall have the power to nominate the presidential electors for that state and that state's presidential elector certifying official shall certify the appointment of such nominees."

8. Public transparency

"The chief election official of each member state shall immediately release to the public all vote counts or statements of votes as they are determined or obtained."

9. Governing (July 20) clause

"This article shall govern the appointment of presidential electors in each member state in any year in which this agreement is, on July 20, in effect in states cumulatively possessing a majority of the electoral votes."

This clause ensures the compact governs in years when it is operative on July 20 of an election year, with member states totaling 270+ electoral votes. The six-month window covers the period from political conventions through inauguration, accommodating census reapportionment, withdrawals, new state admissions, and changes in House size.

Article IV. Other provisions

1. Effective date

"This agreement shall take effect when states cumulatively possessing a majority of the electoral votes have enacted this agreement in substantially the same form and the enactments by such states have taken effect in each state."

2. Withdrawal

"Any member state may withdraw from this agreement, except that a withdrawal occurring six months or less before the end of a President's term shall not become effective until a President or Vice President shall have been qualified to serve the next term."

The withdrawal blackout (July 20 of an election year through January 20 inauguration) tracks the 20th Amendment.

3. Notification

"The chief executive of each member state shall promptly notify the chief executive of all other states of when this agreement has been enacted and has taken effect in that official's state, when the state has withdrawn from this agreement, and when this agreement takes effect generally."

4. Termination

"This agreement shall terminate if the electoral college is abolished."

5. Severability

"If any provision of this agreement is held invalid, the remaining provisions shall not be affected."

Article V. Definitions

For purposes of this agreement:

• Chief executive: "the Governor of a State of the United States or the Mayor of the District of Columbia"
• Elector slate: "a slate of candidates who have been nominated in a state for the position of presidential elector in association with a presidential slate"
• Chief election official: "the state official or body that is authorized to certify the total number of popular votes for each presidential slate"
• Presidential elector: "an elector for President and Vice President of the United States"
• Presidential elector certifying official: "the state official or body that is authorized to certify the appointment of the state's presidential electors"
• Presidential slate: "a slate of two persons, the first of whom has been nominated as a candidate for President of the United States and the second of whom has been nominated as a candidate for Vice President of the United States, or any legal successors to such persons, regardless of whether both names appear on the ballot presented to the voter in a particular state"
• State: "a State of the United States and the District of Columbia"
• Statewide popular election: "a general election in which votes are cast for presidential slates by individual voters and counted on a statewide basis"

Possible federal legislation

The compact is entirely self-executing. but Congress could add complementary legislation in three areas:

• Establishing an administrative clearinghouse to aggregate votes and designate the national winner.
• Adjusting scheduling between Election Day, the safe-harbor deadline, the December Electoral College meeting, and the January 6 congressional vote count.
• Standardizing recount and election-security procedures for national totals.

Earlier proposals

The compact synthesizes ideas from over half a century of academic and legislative work:

• Justice Potter Stewart (Oregon v. Mitchell, 1970). first suggested an interstate compact for electoral uniformity.
• Sen. Charles Schumer (1990s). proposed a bi-state NY–TX compact pooling electoral votes to create a competitive "super-state."
• Brent White (Dec 30, 2000). argued: "If even one state gives its electoral votes to the national popular winner, the voters of every other noncompetitive state would be instantly re-enfranchised."
• Tony Anderson Solgard (Dec 31, 2000). suggested a multi-state compact clause: "when X number of states agree to adopt the same allocation plan, then the law goes into effect."
• Prof. Robert W. Bennett (Northwestern, 2001). argued no federal amendment is required because Article II already gives states the power.
• Profs. Akhil Reed Amar & Vikram David Amar (Yale/UC Davis, 2001). extended Bennett's analysis.

How the NPV compact differs

1. Electoral majority threshold (270 EV). No single state would unilaterally award its electors to a non-state winner. The threshold ensures activation only when a majority is in.
2. Non-partisan operation. Without the threshold, an asymmetric system would be partisan-skewed. The 270 trigger guarantees even-handed operation regardless of which states join first.
3. Legislative implementation. Soon after the February 23, 2006 launch, the bill was introduced in all 50 state legislatures. As of 2019, 3,357 state legislators had sponsored or voted in favor; today the figure exceeds 3,900.