Virginia Democrats Join the War on the Electoral College

The year is just getting started, but the 2026 Virginia legislative session has already been nothing short of mind-boggling. Democrats are shamelessly moving a bevy of far-left fantasy bills through the Legislature.

HB 1245 provides taxpayer funding for transgender surgeries, HB 256 mandates “environmental justice” planning, SB 22 forces racial bias training on nurses, and HB 111 bans cleaning voter rolls. But among all the strange and terrible bills this session, one stands out as especially dangerous: the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.

Legislation to add Virginia to the bizarre NPV scheme will soon go to Gov. Abigail Spanberger. Despite many pleas from Virginia residents, Democrats in the Legislature forced SB 322 and HB 965 through. These bills would join the Commonwealth to an agreement among states that could force Virginia to give all its electoral votes to a candidate who loses there but wins in other states. It’s an attempt to manipulate the Electoral College and usurp Virginia voters.

The NPV compact has a trigger, taking effect only if passed by states that control a majority of electoral votes. Virginia would become the 18th state to join, giving the compact 223 electoral votes— not far short of the 270 it needs. Should a few more states pass NPV legislation, only the Supreme Court could save the country from a presidential election debacle.

How did we get to a point where states would join a compact to give their electoral votes to the national popular vote winner? While the Electoral College may seem controversial today, that wasn’t the case during the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

The framers debated for months about how to elect the president, and the final product was accepted as a great compromise—one that gives voice to every state. Even opponents of the Constitution mostly agreed it was a fitting system for our nation of states. High population states get more votes, but every state has a real voice. The Electoral College reduces the threats of tyranny for both the majority and the minority. It does so by granting more electoral votes to larger states without allowing them to dominate and by forcing candidates to build broad coalitions to win, thus preventing regionalism.

Alexander Hamilton summed up the value of the Electoral College perfectly in Federalist 68 when he said, “I venture somewhat further and hesitate not to affirm that if the manner of it be not perfect, it is at least excellent.”

And he was right. The Electoral College, much like America itself, isn’t perfect. But no system or country made by humans can ever be. Just as America is the greatest country on earth despite its flaws, the same can be said about the Electoral College. While it may not be a perfect system, it is the perfect system for our country.

America is celebrating her 250th Anniversary this Independence Day, an amazing milestone, but we should all remember that the Electoral College has been instrumental to the success of our nation across those many generations. It’s unlikely that America would have survived 250 years without the Electoral College, and I have no doubt that she cannot survive another 250 without it. 

We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.

The post Virginia Democrats Join the War on the Electoral College appeared first on The Daily Signal.