An Act To Join the Interstate Compact on the National Popular Vote
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 0056
Committee: Legal and Veterans Affairs
Sponsors: MARTIN

FIR~T RF,GUIJAR SRSSION-2009 
Legislative Document 
No. 56 
H.P.49 
House of Representatives, January 5,2009 
An Act To Join the Interstate Compact on the National Popular 
Vote 
Reference to the Committee on Legal and Veterans Affairs suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative MARTIN of Eagle Lake. 
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MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA c. 17 is enacted to read: 
CHAPTER 17 
INTERSTATE COMPACT: AGREEMENT AMONG THE STATES TO 
ELECT THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES BY NATIONAL 
POPULAR VOTE 
§1301. Membership - Article 1 
Any state of the United States and the District of Columbia may become a member of 
this agreement by enacting this agreement. 
§1302. Right of people in member states to vote for President and Vice President-
Article 2 
Each member state shall conduct a statewide popular election for President and Vice 
President of the United States. 
§1303. Manner of appointing presidential electors in member states - Article 3 
Prior to the time set by law for the meeting and voting by the presidential electors, the 
chief election official of each member state shall determine the number of votes for each 
presidential slate in each state of the United States and in the District of Columbia in 
which votes have been cast· in a statewide popular election and shall add such votes 
together to produce a national popular vote total for each presidential slate. 
The chief election official of each member state shall designate the presidential slate 
with the largest national popular vote total as the national popular vote winner. 
The presidential elector certifying official of each member state shall ce11ify the 
appointment in that official's own state of the elector slate nominated in that state in 
association with the national popular vote winner. 
At least 6 days before the day fixed by law for the meeting and voting by the 
presidential electors, each member state shall make a final determination of the number of 
popular votes cast in the state for each presidential slate and shall communicate an 
official statement of such determination within 24 hours to the chief election official of 
each other member state. 
The chief election official of each member state shall treat as conclusive an official 
statement containing the number of popular votes in a state for each presidential slate 
made by the day established by federal law for making a state's final detennination 
conclusive as to the counting of electoral votes by Congress. 
In event of a tie for the national popular vote winner, the presidential elector 
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ce11ifying official of each member state shall certify the appointment of the elector slate 
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nominated in association with the presidential slate recelvll1g the largest number of 
popular votes within that official's own state. 
If, for any reason, the number of presidential electors nominated in a member state in 
association with the national popular vote winner is less than or greater than that state's 
number of electoral votes, the presidential candidate on the presidential slate that has 
been designated as the national popular vote winner may nominate the presidential 
electors for that state and that state's presidential elector celiifying official shall celiify 
the appointment of such nominees. 
The chief election official of each member state shall immediately release to the 
public all vote counts or statements of votes as they are determined or obtained. 
This article governs the appointment of presidential electors in each member state in 
any year in which this agreement is, on July 20th, in effect in states cumulatively 
possessing a majority of the electoral votes. 
§1304. Other provisions - Article 4 
This agreement takes effect when states cumulatively possessing a majority of the 
electoral votes have enacted this agreement in substantially the same form and the 
enactments by such states have taken effect in each state. 
Any member state may withdraw from this agreement, except that a withdrawal 
occurring 6 months or less before the end of a President's term does not become effective 
until a President or Vice President has been qualified to serve the next term. The chief 
executive of each member state shall promptly notify the chief executive of all other 
states of when this agreement has been enacted and has taken effect in that official's state, 
when the state has withdrawn from this agreement and when this agreement takes effect 
generally. 
This agreement terminates if the electoral college is abolished. 
If any provision of this agreement is held invalid, the remaining provisions are not 
affected. 
§1305. Definitions - Article 5 
As used in this agreement, the following terms have the following meanings. 
1. Chief election official. "Chief election official" means the state official or body 
that is authorized to certify the total number of popular votes for each presidential slate. 
2. Chief executive. "Chief executive" means the governor of a state of the United 
States or the Mayor of the District of Columbia. 
3. 
Elector slate. 
"Elector slate" means a slate of candidates who have been 
nominated in a state for the position of presidential elector in association with a 
presidential slate. 
4. Presidential elector. "Presidential elector" means an elector for President and 
Vice President of the United States. 
5. Presidential elector certifying official. "Presidential elector certifying official" 
means the state official or body that is authorized to certify the appointment of the state's 
presidential electors. 
6. Presidential slate. "Presidential slate" means a slate of 2 persons, the first of 
whom has been nominated as a candidate for President of the United States and the 
second of whom has been nominated as a candidate for Vice President of the United 
States, or any legal successors to such persons, regardless of whether both names appear 
on the ballot presented to the voter in a particular state. 
7. State. "State" means a state of the United States and the District of Columbia. 
8. 
Statewide popular election. 
"Statewide popular election" means a general 
election in which votes are cast for presidential slates by individual voters and counted on 
a statewide basis. 
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Sec. 2. Legislative intent. The text and numbering of the Interstate Compact: 
Agreement among the States to Elect the President of the United States by National 
Popular Vote have been changed to conform to Maine statutory conventions. 
The 
changes are technical in nature, and it is the intent of the Legislature that this Act be 
interpreted as substantively the same as the original interstate compact. 
SUMMARY 
This bill proposes to adopt the interstate compact that is the agreement among the 
states to elect the President of the United States by national popular vote. Under the 
compact and the bill, the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 
states and the District of Columbia will win the presidency. Under this bill, all of the 
state's electoral votes would be awarded to the presidential candidate who receives the 
most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. This bill would take 
effect only when enacted by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes, that is, 
enough electoral votes to elect a President, which is 270 of 538. 
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