2023 House Bill 4156

Mackinac Center Analysis

Enters Michigan in the National Popular Vote interstate compact, a progressive scheme to end-run the Electoral College and grant Michigan’s electoral votes in a presidential election to the candidate who receives the most votes nationally. Michigan’s adoption of SB 126 would mean that NPV supporters would have 210 of the 270 electoral votes necessary to adopt this new method of electing a president and bypass the U.S. Constitution’s amendment process. The compact requires all states to cast their electoral votes for the same candidate, but does not require federal elections to be conducted according to the same procedures or ballot security standards. This shifts the power in presidential elections to large states and jurisdictions capable of stuffing the most votes into the ballot box, regardless whether those votes are validly cast or not. The NPV compact also creates chaos in the event of a close or disputed national election – a nationwide recount is practically impossible – and is incompatible with ranked-choice voting models. Rather than reducing voter confidence in election results via the NPV compact, Michigan’s electoral votes should continue to be awarded to the candidate receiving the most votes from Michigan residents.