In September 1787, our founding fathers debated about the method of electing the President. The outcome was the Electoral College we use today.

Currently, the election of the President is determined by the votes of the members of the  Electoral College.  Each state has a number of electoral votes based on their two Senators plus the number of their Representatives in Congress.  The number of Representatives is based on the state's population.  Each Representative represents approximately 700,000 people. Maine today has four electoral votes because it has two Senators and two Representatives in Congress due to a population of 1.395 million people.  For examples, Delaware has only three votes, while California has 54 and Texas has 38; primarily due to their respective populations.

In most states, the votes in the electoral college are distributed in a winner-take-all manner; where all of the state's electoral votes go to the presidential candidate winning the state's popular vote.  Maine and Nebraska are the only states that can split their electoral votes. In Maine, one vote is assigned to each of the two congressional districts and two votes are determined by the popular vote in the state.  There are a total of 538 electoral votes and at least 270 electoral votes are required to win the presidential election.

This method has been in place for 59 Presidential elections.  In 54 of the Presidential elections, the Electoral College results agreed with the popular vote.  There were only five elections where they were not in agreement.

LD 1578, An Act to Adopt an Interstate Compact to Elect the President of the United States by National Popular Vote, has been in process in the Maine State Legislature. It initially passed in both the House and Senate. It returned to the House for enactment and has passed, 73-72. 

If enacted and signed by the governor, Maine would adopt the Interstate Compact: Agreement. This Compact is referred to as the "National Popular Vote for President Act.” The compact takes effect when the number of states in the compact have a total of 270 electoral votes, the majority of the 538 electoral votes. The candidate with the most popular votes is the winner. Maine's electoral votes would be awarded to the presidential candidate that receives the most popular votes in the country, irrespective of how the citizens of Maine voted.

With the electoral college Maine has 4 of 538 votes or 0.7% of the vote.  Maine's electoral votes does not appears to be significant, but 4 votes could make a difference. With the popular vote, based on the 2020 election, Maine's voters represent 0.4% of the total votes cast. The change to the popular vote reduces Maine significance by half. Maine's votes for the President becomes immaterial.

Maine has such a small population that the votes for the President will be determined by the more populated states. Does Maine become subservient to the will of those more populated states or do we remain the Sovereign State of Maine?