Is Electoral College done for? Bypass faces sudden headwinds

President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address on Feb. 5, 2019 (video screenshot)

A plan to bypass the Electoral College, transferring the power to elect presidents to heavily populated cities and states such as New York and California, is facing sudden headwinds.

Sixteen states have joined the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an agreement to give the state's Electoral College votes to the presidential candidate who has the most votes nationally.

But two states recently rejected it, and now voters in Colorado will be asked if they want to give away their influence in future presidential elections.

The compact has 196 of the 270 votes needed in the Electoral College to elect a president.

Election expert Hans von Spakovsky of the Heritage Foundation explained why Maine and Nevada recently rejected the compact.

Maine legislators killed it by vote and Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak shot it down.

Von Spakovsky said that abiding by the compact would mean "agreeing to ignore what the majority of voters in their state decides when it comes to who they believe should be president."

"The National Popular Vote effort was started by a frustrated Al Gore elector after the 2000 election, and the progressive left has poured huge amounts of money and resources into lobbying states to adopt the plan," he said. After Hillary Clinton’s loss in 2016, the compact gathered even more steam."

Donald Trump won 304 votes in the Electoral College in 2016 to Hillary Clinton's 227, while Clinton received more popular votes nationally.

Von Spakovsky pointed out that the nine most populous states contain 51 percent of America's population.

"Under the National Popular Vote compact, a candidate could spend her entire campaign in big cities in California, Texas, Florida, and New York in order to win the election. States like Maine and Nevada wouldn't even make the list of campaign stops," he said.

Now, one state in the compact may end up backing out.

Colorado joined the NPV movement this year based on the wishes of a Democratic majority in the state House and Senate, and a far-left Democrat in the governor's office, Jared Polis.

But an organization called Coloradans Vote has announced it has more than enough signatures to put the issue on the election ballot and give voters a chance to repeal it.

"We had 185,000 signatures as of last week and packets are coming in droves every day," said Rose Pugliese, a Mesa County commissioner and organizer for Coloradans Vote, in a report in the Denver Post.

About 124,000 signatures are needed.

The states that have joined the compact along with Colorado are Washington, Vermont, Rhode Island, Oregon, New York, New Mexico, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Illinois, Hawaii, Delaware, Connecticut and California.

The courts haven't resolved lawsuits that allege the move changes the Constitution without the amendment process.

A number of states used the system early in the nation's history. But it was criticized for being manipulated to the benefit of local politicians and fell into disuse.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the appointment of presidential electors belongs to the states.