Maine Proposes Linking Electoral Votes to Popular Vote

Maine’s state legislature has approved a bill that would link its four electoral votes for president to the national popular vote.

The legislation was passed by the Maine House in a narrow 73-72 vote on Wednesday and was later approved by the state Senate.

It is now up to Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, to decide whether or not to sign the bill into law.

The movement to tie each state’s Electoral College votes to the national popular vote (NPV) has mostly been backed by Democrats.

Currently, 16 states and Washington, D.C., have agreed to participate in the compact, representing 205 electoral votes, according to a report by Spectrum News.

The compact will only come into effect if the participating states reach a total of 270 Electoral College votes, enough to determine the outcome of the presidential election.

Maine House Republicans criticized the move, stating that it would give more power to large urban states like California and New York, and diminish the influence of smaller, rural states like Maine.

Some Republicans, including former Michigan GOP Chairman Saul Anuzis, support the NPV bill, believing that electing the president by popular vote is a fairer and more democratic system.

The recent votes in the Maine legislature on the NPV bill coincided with Nebraska Republican Governor Jim Pillen publicly endorsing a return to a “winner-take-all” system for awarding electoral votes in Nebraska, a change that could have significant implications for the 2024 election if implemented.

In the 2020 election, former President Donald Trump received one electoral vote from Maine while President Joe Biden received three.