Five of the six new state government trifectas that Democrats won on Nov. 3 have not adopted the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC), an agreement by member states to award their Electoral College votes to the presidential ticket that receives the most votes nationwide. Sixteen of the 18 states that have adopted the compact were Democratic trifectas at the time the legislation was enacted.

The compact takes effect if states representing at least 270 Electoral College votes adopt it. Eighteen states and Washington, D.C., have adopted the compact, together representing 222 Electoral College votes. If all five non-member states with new Democratic trifectas — Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — were to adopt the NPVIC, the participating states would represent 283 electoral votes. Four of the five states could bring the compact past the 270-vote threshold if Michigan and Pennsylvania were among them.

Lawmakers in all five states introduced NPVIC legislation in 2025 or 2026. Following the election, multiple Democratic legislators have said they plan to do so again.

Incoming Arizona Senate President Priya Sundareshan (D) told Politico that her caucus planned on taking up NPVIC legislation, saying, "We certainly are and have been prepared to join the compact, and we also want to make sure that we are showing that our priorities are reflective of what we really focused on on the campaign trail."

Wisconsin state Sen. Kelda Roys (D) told the New York Times, “National popular vote will be something that we’ll prioritize early in the session." Incoming Wisconsin Gov. David Crowley (D) told the Associated Press that he was “interested in having those conversations with the state Legislature” regarding the compact.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) said in an interview on Nov. 7, "I’ll work with lawmakers to figure out what the right mechanism is for moving forward on that. But look, we’re the ultimate swing state in Pennsylvania … I think Pennsylvania can still play a massive role even in a national popular vote."

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D), Michigan Gov.-elect Jocelyn Benson (D), and Nevada Gov.-elect Aaron Ford (D) have not publicly commented since the election on whether they would support joining the compact.

Michigan did not adopt legislation to join the compact when Democrats held a trifecta in the state in 2023 and 2024. Incoming Michigan Senate Majority Leader Darrin Camilleri (D) told Politico, "Other states that have done this are not going to be the tipping-point states. We very well could be one of those tipping point-states, and so I want to ensure that everybody is on the same page."

In Nevada, Democratic legislators approved a bill to join the NPVIC in 2019. Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) vetoed the legislation, stating at the time, "Once effective, the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact could diminish the role of smaller states like Nevada in national electoral contests and force Nevada’s electors to side with whoever wins the nationwide popular vote, rather than the candidate Nevadans choose."

In four elections between 1876 and 2024, a presidential candidate won the Electoral College and did not receive the most individual votes across all states. Proponents of the NPVIC have pointed to these instances as evidence that the current system of awarding electors is flawed, arguing that the candidate who receives the most votes nationally should win the presidency.

Supporters of the compact argue that it encourages presidential candidates to attract voters in all 50 states, rather than just in certain swing states. Patrick Rosenstiel, a Minnesota-based consultant for National Popular Vote, a group supporting the compact, told the Associated Press, "I don’t believe I’ve ever been relevant in the outcome of a presidential election. National popular vote forces campaigns to focus on every persuadable voter in every precinct across the nation."

Opponents of the NPVIC have said that electing the president by popular vote would lead candidates to target densely populated areas and ignore rural or less populous states.

In addition, critics have said that the NPVIC may be unconstitutional. Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow with Advancing American Freedom, told Fox News that “In the past, the only kind of compacts that have been agreed on between states have been things like water sharing — when rivers run between states, they enter into compacts to agree on that. But a compact that changes a fundamental structural given in the Constitution, I think the Supreme Court would say you can’t do that."

Derek Muller, a professor of law at the University of Notre Dame, wrote in Election Law Blog that he believes the compact would require congressional approval and would be subject to a presidential veto. Muller also said that the compact could violate state constitutional requirements that voters be in-state residents.

Click here for more information on the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.