In a recent Justia blog post, Illinois Law dean and professor Vikram David Amar discusses an important development in the election reform movement known as the National Popular Vote (“NPV”) interstate compact plan.
"The big development last week was that the lower legislative chamber in Oregon (the house) voted to join the NPV agreement, and that the president of the senate has for the first time agreed not to block the plan—he had blocked it thrice before when the Oregon house voted for it—and is willing to allow it go forward under certain circumstances.
"Why is this such a big development, given that Oregon has only seven electors, and given that Oregon is just yet another blue state? After all, 172/270 isn’t that much more than 165/270. And—as I have suggested before—until a red state joins the mix, it will be 'hard to debunk the fear that red state folks have that the National Popular Vote bill is a Democratic scheme rather than a democratic idea.'
"In fact, people in red states like Texas should want to consider the NPV plan, since under the current system predictably red states get ignored in the election campaign just as surely as predictably blue states do. Moreover, we are at a moment in history in which the traditional operation of the electoral college doesn’t really favor either major political party over the other one."
Read the full post at verdict.justia.com.