Colorado voters approved Proposition 113 this week to join a national pact that will elect a president based on the popular vote in place of the Electoral College.
“Officially called the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, by joining the group, Colorado would pledge to give all of its electoral votes to the national popular vote winner,” according to KDVR.
The state currently has nine electoral votes but is expected to pick up a tenth because of its rapid population growth, the outlet said.
However, the compact will only go into effect “once enough states have joined to ensure that they will control the outcome of the election,” according to Colorado Public Radio (CPR):
The battle over how Colorado will allocate its electoral votes in the future started with a bill in the 2019 legislative session. Democrats pushed hard for the idea that joining the compact would bring more fairness to presidential elections, by giving each vote across the country equal weight. They argue the Electoral College encourages candidates to focus on a handful of swing states — of which Colorado is no longer one — while ignoring most of the country.
Two Republican officials who tried to repeal the law said the impact of a national popular vote would “erase the influence of rural areas in favor of vote-dense cities and suburbs,” the CPR article read.
Despite the concerns, Democrat State Sen. Michael Foote claimed the national popular vote was “a very straightforward concept.”
“One person should always equal one vote, and the presidential candidate who gets the most votes should win the election,” he continued, according to Fox News.
However, former Republican state House Speaker Frank McNulty said the state’s votes should be decided by its residents, adding, “They were tricked by California billionaires, who spent millions of dollars to buy our votes for president.”
“This is going to reduce Colorado’s clout, and it’s going to reduce our influence on issues like transportation, water, health care and funding for our military bases,” McNulty concluded.
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