Virginia has taken a significant step toward changing how the United States could decide its presidential elections. Governor Abigail Spanberger has signed the national popular vote bill into law, adding the state to the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.
The move places Virginia alongside 17 other states and the District of Columbia that have already joined the agreement. Together, the compact now represents 222 electoral votes.
Under the compact, participating states would award their presidential electors to the winner of the national popular vote, rather than to the candidate who wins each individual state. The arrangement would apply regardless of the results inside any one participating state.
The compact is designed to take effect only when states holding a majority of electoral votes approve it. That threshold is 270 of the 538 total electoral votes in the Electoral College. Once that mark is reached, the compact would determine the outcome of presidential contests through the national popular vote.
Supporters of the plan say it would ensure that the candidate who wins the most votes nationwide becomes president. The latest development in Virginia brings the proposal closer to that goal, though it still falls short of the 270 electoral votes needed to activate the agreement.
For now, the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact continues to expand state by state. Virginia’s decision adds momentum to a long-running effort to shift the presidential election system away from the current Electoral College framework and toward a direct national vote.
The bill’s signing marks another chapter in the broader debate over how American presidents should be elected. With Virginia now included, the compact has reached its highest level of support so far, but it remains one step away from the point at which it could actually change how winners are determined.
