Assoc. Dean Amar Comments on Electoral College Reform for Atlantic
Associate Dean Vikram Amar commented for The Atlantic on the National Voter Interstate Compact, a plan to alter the current Electoral College system with one that effectively awards the presidency to the national popular vote winner. Amar played a key role in the formation of the plan, proposing this kind of idea and discussing its constitutional permissibility and advisability in a series of essays including an article co-authored with his brother a decade ago.
Under the compact, participating states would agree to cast their electoral votes to the presidential candidate winning the most votes nationwide, ensuring that the winner of the popular vote would be elected. In the Atlantic article, Amar remarked on the similarities between the compact and local efforts that brought about popular election of U.S. senators a century ago.
Vikram Amar, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor of Law with the UC Davis School of Law, is a national authority in the fields of constitutional law, civil procedure, criminal procedure, and remedies. His biweekly column for Justia.com, a leading provider of online legal information, centers on his expertise in constitutional law.