AUGUSTA, Maine — After a testy debate on Tuesday, the Democratic-led Maine House of Representatives cast a narrow, deciding vote for the state to join an interstate plan aiming to nix the Electoral College and elect presidents by a national popular vote.
Tuesday’s 73-72 vote means the bill from Rep. Arthur Bell, D-Yarmouth, for Maine to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact now only needs to clear the Senate, which gave it wide support in March. It would then go to Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat who has not weighed in on this year’s measure.
The House initially passed the proposal last month. Similar proposals failed to pass the Legislature in the past, including in 2019 due to opposition from most Republicans and some House Democrats. That was on the heels of former President Donald Trump’s 2016 victory, which was the fifth time in history that the winning candidate lost the popular vote.
Several of those Democrats supported the bill this year, but four — Reps. Jim Dill of Old Town, Tavis Hasenfus of Readfield, Karen Montell of Gardiner and Ron Russell of Verona Island — joined all House Republicans and Rep. Bill Pluecker, I-Warren, in opposing it Tuesday. Four Democrats and two Republicans were absent.
Tuesday’s roughly hour-long debate grew heated, with Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, facing multiple objections that her speech opposing the bill and how it would “silence” Mainers was violating House rules by questioning the motives of members.
After Rep. Tiffany Roberts, D-South Berwick, objected to part of Libby’s speech, Rep. Joseph Underwood, R-Presque Isle, shouted something from his seat. House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland, called Underwood to the front of the chamber for a quiet reprimand.
The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact would take effect if states accounting for at least 270 electors — the minimum number needed to win the presidency outright — adopt it. The compact needs 65 more votes, with 205 accounted for among the 16 states and Washington, D.C., that have adopted it, including Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont and Connecticut.
Maine splits two of its four Electoral College votes by congressional district, with two at-large votes going to the statewide popular vote winner. Nebraska is the other state with a similar system. Trump, a Republican, has twice carried Maine’s 2nd District, while President Joe Biden won the state overall in 2020 behind a wide margin in the heavily Democratic 1st District.
Supporters have argued the Electoral College is antiquated and dilutes the influence of a large chunk of voters by making presidential candidates only focus on a few battleground states. Opponents have called it an “end-run” around the Constitution that would actually result in candidates caring less about Maine and more about densely populated cities.
“We can no longer continue to have the presidency determined by the popular vote total in a mere handful of our 50 states,” Rep. Steve Moriarty, D-Cumberland, said in supporting the bill, while House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, called it a “crazy idea.”
A Pew Research Center survey released in September found 65 percent of American adults support electing the president by a national popular vote, including roughly half of Republicans.
