New Mexico Senate OKs Popular Vote Pact

New Mexico is on its way to becoming the latest state to join a movement to give its electoral votes to the U.S. presidential nominee who wins the popular vote.

Under the National Interstate Popular Vote Compact, multiple states would join an agreement that stipulates that the winner of A popular vote will receive all Electoral College votes from those states bound by the agreement.

“The current system of electing the president of the United States leads to the voices of New Mexico voters being overlooked and ignored,” explained Democratic state Sen. Mimi Stewart, according to Silver City Sun-News.

Stewart has successfully passed the bill, formally known as SB 42, in the New Mexico Senate. However, the bill has yet to enter committee in New Mexico’s House of Representatives.

So far, 10 states have joined the pact. Those combined states equal 165 Electoral College votes, though the interstate pact would need 270 to be effective, according to The Associated Press.

Though New Mexico represents another addition of force to this growing movement to neutralize the power of the Electoral College, the Land of Enchantment is not seen as a huge get for the pact simply because it is not a swing state.

“Too many New Mexicans feel like they have been left out of the process in deciding who will serve as our nation’s leader,” said Stewart. “By doing our part to move towards a national popular vote, we can begin the process of regaining the voters’ trust in our elections and ensure their voices are equal to every voter across the country.”

Despite Stewart’s advocacy for the National Interstate Popular Vote Compact, critics of the proposal argue that automatically assigning Electoral College votes to the popular-vote winner will still have the effect of ignoring low-population states, including New Mexico.

Sources: AP via U.S. News & World Report, Silver City Sun-News / Photo Credit: Maryland GovPics/Flickr