On April 2, 2007, Maryland became the first state to join the National Popular Vote interstate Compact (agreement). If enough states join the Compact, the Electoral College system of voting will effectively come to an end.
The National Popular Vote plan is so simple and elegant it’s amazing nobody thought of it sooner. The idea behind it was originated John R. Koza, a computer scientist (not a political scientist).
Here’s how it works: States have complete power under the Constitution to allocate their Electoral College votes as they see fit. Historically, each state has allocated its Electoral College vote based on the election outcome in that State. Under the National Popular Vote Compact, member states agree that their Electoral College votes will be awarded to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes nationwide, regardless of the election outcome in any particular state.
The National Popular Vote plan would only take effect only once enough states join the Compact so that the outcome of the presidential election would be determine solely by this method. In other words, enough states have to sign on so that a majority of the Electoral College votes would be under the Compact. This is a significantly lower hurdle than amending the Constitution. Once it passes in enough states, the next president would be picked based solely on whoever won the most votes. The way it should be.