Democrats Have A Plan To Use Midterm Blowout To Undo Electoral College

Listen Listen 3 min

In the aftermath of a sweeping blue wave this midterm season, Democrats have been quick to float several ideas they hope to accomplish with their newfound victory.

One of them is to fundamentally change the way the United States elects a president.

For decades, many Democrats have sought to have the presidency decided by the national popular vote rather than state-by-state Electoral College results. Tuesday's election results may have brought that goal closer.

The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which is already approved by 18 states and the District of Columbia, would require participating states to award their electoral votes to the national popular vote winner, regardless of which candidate wins their state. As of right now, the electoral votes from the states that have already signed amount to 222 votes. But the compact can only take effect once it reaches 270 votes — the same number a candidate needs to win the presidency.

The focus is now on the five states where Democrats secured control of the governor's office and both legislative chambers: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Nevada. If these states join the compact, they would join the coalition and provide enough electoral votes to activate it. A previous attempt by Nevada to join the agreement was vetoed by the state's Democrat governor in 2019.

Several lawmakers told the New York Times that they had already begun discussing legislation for the next session, and were hopeful they could succeed before 2028.

Michigan state Rep. Carrie Rheingans told the Times, "This blue tsunami is really going to help push this forward across the whole nation."

However, even if that happens, experts say the agreement would face serious legal challenges.

Derek Muller, an election law expert at Notre Dame Law School, told the Times that interstate compacts traditionally require approval from Congress and the president. "It's a very real possibility that enough states join this compact," he said. "There will be a lot of challenges."

The push for the popular vote gained particular attention starting in 2000 when President George W. Bush was elected to office despite losing the popular vote. The same situation has occurred four other times, including with President Donald Trump in 2016, when he won the presidency but lost the popular vote.

A YouGov poll from June 2026 showed that 56% of adults think a president should be elected by popular vote, not the Electoral College.