The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact — which already has 11 states and the District of Columbia on board — would hand the 2020 presidential election to whoever wins the popular vote. Under the Constitution, states have the power to determine how they award their electoral votes in national elections. Five presidents have taken office without winning the national popular vote, most recently in 2000 and 2016. Then, there were contests over very many states,” Hundt said, citing the Kennedy-Nixon election, where there was a close margin in about half of the states. According to research conducted by Making Every Vote Count, guaranteeing that the presidency would go to the winner of the popular vote would boost turnout by 20 million to 80 million.

Source: Washington Post February 26, 2019 12:00 UTC