Hawaii’s Electoral College votes would have gone to Donald Trump if the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact were in effect today. This raises questions about whether Hawaii’s Democrat-controlled Legislature made a mistake in joining the compact, which allocates electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote. The Electoral College system gives smaller states like Hawaii a larger proportionate power in selecting the president. Joining the compact would have given Donald Trump all of Hawaii’s electoral votes, despite the state overwhelmingly voting for Kamala Harris. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin had warned about this potential outcome back in 2007 when the Legislature overrode a governor’s veto to join the compact. The compact will only go into effect once it represents a majority of national votes. In the opinion of many, including former Governor Linda Lingle, joining the compact would dilute Hawaii’s constitutional power as a smaller state. The question remains whether Hawaii would be better off sticking with the Electoral College system or adopting the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. Overall, the compact would have resulted in Hawaii’s Democrat Party, and ultimately the state itself, hoisting itself on its own petard by giving all of its electoral votes to Donald Trump.
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What Led Hawaii Democrats to Tie Electoral Votes to the Popular Vote?
