The Sneaky Plan to Subvert the Electoral College for the Next Election

The Electoral College. America's unique way of picking her President. For it or against it, you might want to know there's a plan to use the Electoral College to subvert the Electoral College. It's a sneaky plan, and to understand, remember that: while it feels like citizens pick the president in one big election, they don't. The 50 states pick the president. Oh, and District of Columbia. But not you, Puerto Rico -- come back when you're a state.

How the states come together and how they vote is what the Electoral College is. Each state gets votes proportional to her population (plus two) and is free to cast these votes however she wants. Most look at how their citizens voted and give all their Electoral College votes to the state-wide winner. But they don't have to. A couple states cast their votes proportional-ish to their citizens' preferences. But states are free to vote however. Including against the preferences of their citizens. Let's make a note of that.

But back to this plus two, which is why some citizens really don't like the Electoral College. The plus two means: the states less populous produce preponderate presidential picking power per person. At the extremes, some states get one vote per low hundred thousand people, and some states one vote per high hundred thousand. This is how the Electoral College sometimes picks a president that nationwide most citizens didn’t. Because roughly 80% of the state votes are given by population, and 20% aren't. This is on purpose.

Dividing power between the levels of citizen, state, and federal is (and was) a central point of the Constitution. It's a Compromistitution. So if you went back in time to when the states were about to finalize the deal, yelling: (as Future Grey) "Don't sign that document. I'm from the future. You're creating an Electoral College where votes for president are distributed proportionally-ish, not perfectly proportionally." (as present-day narrator Grey) The reply would be: (as New York girl) "Yes, that's one of the many compromises we agreed upon." (as Future Grey) "But because of that sometimes a president will be elected with a minority of the popular vote!" (as New York girl) "Yes." (as Future Grey) "But the people…" (as Constitutional Convention) "The people? You can't trust the people. Do you think this Compromistitution is for a direct democracy, lawl? We're building a republic here." (as Future Grey) "Yes, I know, but would you just look at this spreadsheet of improportion--?" (as New Hampshire girl) "--How many states are there in the future?" (as Future Grey) "50… maybe 51 depending on how…" (as New York girl) "--Wow! What a tremendous success! Go Compromistitution!" (as Future Grey) "No, can we focus--" (as New York girl) "Do you even own land?" (as Future Grey) "No…" (as New York girl) "Then why would we listen to you? Goodbye."

(as present-day narrator Grey) Thus the Electoral College is doing what it was designed to do (totally on purpose), and the Supreme Court has reaffirmed this. So if you don't like the Electoral College, then tough noogies for you. And if you do, then nothing to worry about. The Electoral College, in a fortress of axiomatic constitutionality, has survived for a thousand generations of this republic.

The only way to break through the front gate would be with a constitutional amendment. But getting enough states to push on the same side of that gromulent tool (while not theoretically impossible) is legislatively improbable. This is where the sneaky plan comes in. (Did you forget about that? Don't worry, I got carried away.)

There is a back door that, if breached, can turn the constitutional fortress protecting the Electoral College into a prison. The sneaky plan is named: the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. It's a terrible name. Probably on purpose to hide sneakiness behind boringness as bureaucratic paperwork camouflage. But I'm calling it NaPoVoInterCo. Which is sort-of-not-really better, but whatever. Here are the sneaky deets.

1. Assume destroying the constitutional protections of the Electoral College is impossible.
2. The note from before: states can cast their Electoral College votes however they want. These are just facts.
3. But if a state signs on the dotted line, NaPoVoInterCo members agree to cast their Electoral College votes for the candidate who gets the most votes from citizens nationwide. This is the “National Popular Vote” in NaPoVoInterCo.

The idea behind 2 plus 3 is to make it impossible to have a president most of the citizens didn't vote for. A state would look not only at the result in her borders, but the results nationwide, and vote that way. Which is all fine and dandy if the state citizens voted with the majority anyway. But if they didn't, well, you can see a flaw with the plan.

Any singular state assaulting the Electoral College on her own, carrying votes against her own citizens, it's political suicide from without and within. So the plan, had it only three points, is something no state would agree to, requiring one last sneak.

4. The plan does not go into effect until enough states, with enough votes to control the Electoral College as a block, join. So, as states sign up, the total number of Electoral College votes they control goes up. But nothing happens.

Elections pass, and states still vote the traditional way, while recruiting allies to the cause. (as Electoral College) "What are you guys up to over there?" (as NaPoVoInterCo girls) "Oh us? Nothing. Just chilling. Just hanging out." (as present-day narrator Grey)

But once a controlling majority of Electoral College votes is reached, Point 4 is satisfied and -- when it's time for the next election -- CHARGE! All together, all at once, in through the back, the Electoral College is captured.

The fortress is now a prison. From this moment on, the NaPoVoInterCo block promises the candidate who gets the most citizen votes nationwide gets their controlling majority and becomes the president. Without amending the Constitution, the Electoral College has become totally pointless by using its protection of states' rights to vote however they want, into the vital tool to functionally remove state votes entirely, making the presidential election into one not of states, but of citizens.

And there's no problem with this plan at all. Except, of course, the instant this popular coup occurred, states outside the compact will storm the Supreme Court, who will then be forced to deal with everyone yelling all at once about the future of how the president will be elected. Which will be amazing to watch, no matter which side the gavel of constitutional interpretation comes down upon.

That's the plan. It's been around for a while and has enough confirmed signatures to be more than halfway to the trigger point. And in theory, enough states have laws currently pending in their legislatures that, if passed, would put NaPoVoInterCo into action for the next election.

Though, of course, it's easier to agree to things while they’re far away and uncertain to happen, and the reality of voting against your citizens merely theoretical. So it may be much more difficult to get the final triggering two percent than the promised first forty-nine.

But the Electoral College, for it or against it, the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is the sneaky plan to use it to subvert it. [jaunty swing music continues]