State Government Committee hears arguments for and against the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact

The State Government Committee convened an informational meeting to hear experts and advocates about the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact and ranked-choice voting. The committee heard detailed arguments about how the compact would allocate Pennsylvania's 19 electoral votes to the nationwide popular vote winner once states holding a majority of electors (270) have joined.

Supporters said the compact is a lawful, state-based way to ensure the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide becomes president. Dr. Amy Weidstrom, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, told the committee, "We believe the candidate who earns the most votes should win, an idea that is both simple and foundational to public trust in democracy." Philip Hensley Robin, executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania, said the compact "would bring states together in an interstate compact to mutually pledge their electors to the winner of the national popular vote." Christopher Pearson of National Popular Vote cited federal law and compact language to say states already produce a conclusive count and that the compact simply sums those results.

Supporters framed the compact as a state-level exercise of constitutional authority over electors. "How states allocate their electoral votes has always been up to the states," Dr. Weidstrom said, and Robin pointed to Supreme Court…