Nevada To Join Movement Away From Electoral College

The Reno Gazette-Journal reports:

Nevada is now on the cusp of joining the nationwide push to elect the president purely by popular vote. The state Senate on Tuesday passed Assembly Bill 186, which would see the Silver State join a compact with 15 others that have agreed to award their presidential votes to the winner of the national popular vote.

If adopted by enough states, the national popular vote compact would effectively neuter the electoral college, a constitutional creation that awards states one presidential vote for each of its congressional delegates.

To succeed, proponents of the popular vote pact need to secure a majority of the nation’s 538 electoral delegates. Nevada’s six electoral votes would put them just 75 votes shy of that 270-vote goal.

CNN reports:

Other members of the pact are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington state and the District of Columbia. The most recent addition, New Mexico, put the total at 189 electoral votes.

The agreement will go into effect only if the cumulative total of the states’ electoral votes surpasses the 270 necessary for a majority. Nevada’s six electoral votes could boost the total to 195, and similar legislation is awaiting gubernatorial consideration in Maine, which could contribute the state’s four electoral votes.