Colorado passes resolution to throw state's electoral votes to popular-vote winner

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Colorado voters passed Proposition 113 Tuesday night, officially joining the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.

That accord seeks to unite states that are attempting to remove the disconnect between the popular vote results and the count in the Electoral College.

The effort gained steam following Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s loss in 2016 to Republican nominee Donald Trump, despite the former secretary of state having won the national popular vote. 

Colorado joined 15 other states that have voted to throw their state’s electoral votes behind the candidate that wins the national popular vote, the Denver Post reported Wednesday.

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Voters in Colorado passed the measure with 52.2% of the vote, with 88% of the vote counted, according to the Post.

Democratic nominee Joe Biden was leading in the national popular vote by more than 3 million votes as of Wednesday night, though votes were still being counted nationwide.

“The national popular vote is a very straightforward concept,” Democratic state Sen. Michael Foote, who backed the initiative, told the newspaper. “One person should always equal one vote, and the presidential candidate who gets the most votes should win the election.”

But the close margin by which the measure passed suggested that Coloradans did not overwhelmingly support the bill.

“They were tricked by California billionaires, who spent millions of dollars to buy our votes for president,” former Republican state House Speaker Frank McNulty told the Post. “Colorado’s votes should be decided by Coloradans.”

“This is going to reduce Colorado’s clout, and it’s going to reduce our influence on issues like transportation, water, health care and funding for our military bases,” he added.

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In 2019, Colorado lawmakers decided to assign the state’s Electoral College votes to the winner of the national popular vote in a presidential election. 

But the measure was put on the ballot by grassroots conservatives seeking to reverse the decision and ban Colorado’s participation in such a strategy. The plan seemingly backfired as Colorado became the 16th state to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.