Spanberger signs bill to hand Virginia’s electoral votes to the national popular vote winner

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed a bill on Monday adding her state to the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, a move that would commit Virginia’s 13 electoral votes to whichever presidential candidate wins the most votes nationwide, regardless of how Virginians themselves vote. The Virginia Republican Party called it “an unconstitutional assault on our democracy.”

The signing was part of a busy Monday in which Spanberger, who leads a state government now controlled by a Democratic majority, signed hundreds of bills into law. She vetoed a few, relating to unregulated skill-gaming machines and a proposed Fairfax County casino, and sent dozens more back with proposed amendments. But the popular vote compact drew the sharpest fire.

Under the compact, participating states agree to award all their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote rather than the winner within their own borders. The catch: the agreement stays dormant until enough states sign on to control at least 270 electoral votes, the number needed to win the presidency. With Virginia now in, the compact sits at 222 electoral votes. It needs 48 more before it activates.