The Maine Legislature came one vote short of withdrawing from the National Popular Vote (NPV) compact this session. The measure was approved twice in the House of Representatives but came just one vote shy in the Senate.
The NPV compact aims to change how the United States selects the president by awarding the office to the winner of the nationwide popular vote instead of the Electoral College. The NPV scheme benefits large, populous states while marginalizing small states like Maine–the opposite of what the Electoral College was designed to do.
This compact itself likely violates multiple provisions of the U.S. Constitution. The effort to repeal Maine’s NPV enabling law, also known as LD 252, was critical to protecting voting rights and constitutional governance in the state of Maine. Had it passed, Maine would have become the first state to withdraw from the NPV compact.
How the Electoral College Benefits Maine
The Electoral College inherently protects the interests of smaller states like Maine.
Maine has four electoral votes that make up approximately 0.75% of the Electoral College, but Maine’s population of 1.4 million makes up only 0.41% of the national popular vote. It’s also worth noting that the entirety of these 1.4 million Mainers are not of voting age. In the 2024 presidential election, roughly 830,000 Mainers cast ballots, as did more than 155 million Americans nationwide. Maine’s 830,000 ballots represented just 0.52% of the total national sample of votes. Maine loses nearly one-third of its influence under the NPV scheme.
Thus, it’s clear that the NPV compact reduces the impact Maine has on presidential elections due to our small population compared to more populous states like New York and California. It minimizes the voices of those who live in rural parts of Maine. Their votes and voices are drowned out by large metropolitan areas through the compact.
How Maine Chooses Electors for the Electoral College
Maine chooses its electors for the Electoral College during state party conventions through party leadership decisions. Each party nominates a slate of electors and are selected before presidential elections occur.
The Split-Vote System is Better than NPV and Winner-take-all
Most states operate on a winner-take-all system to allocate electoral votes, but Maine, along with Nebraska, operates on a split-vote system.
Maine’s split-vote model awards two electoral votes to the candidate who wins the statewide popular vote and one electoral vote each to the popular vote winner in both of our congressional districts.
The split-vote process is better than NPV and winner-takes-all because it guarantees fairer representation based on Maine’s geographic diversity. It also encourages broader campaigning by presidential candidates.
Maine has diverse and unique interests that deserve to be noticed by candidates. The split-vote model allows for the minority to be heard because our electoral votes are determined by the winner of each congressional district instead of statewide. This same reality takes shape in Nebraska as well.
Maine also has greater national relevance because it’s split-vote ensures that candidates must appeal to a broad and diverse audience of voters rather than focusing on high population urban areas like Portland.
There are also a number of legal concerns with the NPV compact that make it worth abandoning, including the compact clause of the U.S. Constitution, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, existing Supreme Court precedent, and more.
A Fight for Constitutional Rights
The NPV compact is unconstitutional end around of the Electoral College, and by now, lawmakers should realize this simple fact. The one vote needed to withdraw from the compact is critical for the future of Maine and the nation as a whole. Maine might be a small state, but we have a big impact–especially in presidential elections. Given the close nature of this year’s vote – the first time Maine Policy worked to withdraw from the compact – there’s real hope for the future that this bill can succeed in future legislative sessions.