Hafiz Rashid, The New Republic:

With Democratic victories in state legislatures and governorships across the country Tuesday, the Electoral College could now be in jeopardy—even without a near-impossible constitutional amendment.

If passed by enough states, the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact would effectively nullify the Electoral College and, with it, the possibility of a candidate being elected president without winning the popular vote. Since the compact was introduced in 2006, 19 states have passed it, agreeing to assign their electoral votes to whichever candidate wins the national popular vote. That amounts to 222 of the 270 electoral votes that a candidate needs to win the presidential election.

On Tuesday, Democrats took control of state legislatures and governorships in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Nevada, all states that haven’t agreed to the compact. If all five vote to join, then the total number of electoral votes apportioned based on the national popular vote jumps to 283.

When I first started paying attention to the National Popular Vote Compact in 2016, it had accumulated 165 electoral votes. By 2024 it had progressed to 209. There are dozens of higher priorities Democrats must focus on, but if they can leverage their legislative trifectas to trigger the compact, it could be the most consequential and durable outcome of this year’s blue tsunami.