Why do only a small portion of the voting age citizenry bother to vote in presidential elections? It’s because the majority know their vote doesn’t matter. Here are some details from the National Popular Vote Advocacy Group.

State winner-take-all laws are the reason why the vast majority of American voters are politically irrelevant in presidential elections. These laws award all of a state’s electoral votes to the candidate who gets the most votes in each separate state.

If a presidential candidate is ahead or behind by about 6 percentage points in a particular state, there is no realistic chance of changing the outcome in that state, and, hence, no reason for any candidate to pay any attention to that state’s voters. Thus, presidential campaigns are concentrated on the small handful of states that are closely divided “battleground” states.

Winner-take-all laws are also what have allowed 5 of our 45 Presidents (including two of the last three) to come into office without winning the most popular votes nationwide.

The winner-take-all method of awarding electoral votes is not in the U.S. Constitution. It was not debated at the 1787 Constitutional Convention. It was not mentioned in the Federalist Papers. It was used by only three states in the first presidential election in 1789 (and all three repealed it by 1800).

Fortunately, the U.S. Constitution (Article II) gives states exclusive control over awarding their electoral votes: “Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors….”

Thus, state winner-take-all laws may be changed in the same way that they were original enacted, namely by action of state legislatures. No federal constitutional amendment is required to repeal these state laws.

The National Popular Vote bill has been enacted by 15 states and the District of Columbia (together possessing 196 electoral votes), including 4 small states (DE, HI, RI, VT), 8 medium-sized states (CO, CT, MD, MA, NJ, NM, OR, WA), and 3 big states (CA, IL, NY). The bill will take effect when enacted by states with 74 more electoral votes (for a total of 270).

Most recently, a committee of the Virginia House of Delegates approved the National Popular Vote bill and sent it to the floor.

The National Popular Vote interstate compact will go into effect when enacted by states with a majority of the presidential electors—that is, 270 of 538. After the compact comes into effect, every voter in all 50 states and DC will acquire a direct vote in the choice of all of the presidential electors from all of the states that enacted the compact. The presidential candidate supported by the most voters in all 50 states and DC will thereby win a majority of the presidential electors in the Electoral College (at least 270), and therefore become President. The vote of every voter in every state will count directly towards his or her choice for President.

Under the current state-by-state winner-take-all system, the individual voter’s vote counts only toward the choice of the limited number of presidential electors from their own state. Under National Popular Vote, every voter in all 50 states and DC will have a direct vote in choosing 270 (or more) presidential electors. Your vote will count directly toward your choice for President.

— Kenneth Clark is a resident of Unionville.