BREAKING: Abigail Spanberger signs law to circumvent electoral college for Virginia voters

Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger has signed a bill to circumvent the electoral college and have Virginia become a member of a compact between states that are looking to give their Electoral College votes to the presidential candidate that wins the popular vote instead of the candidate that voters from the state choose.

Spanberger signed HB965 into law, which would effectively null and void votes cast in Virginia itself and only give its Electoral College votes to the nationwide popular vote winner. The compact between the states, however, will not go into effect until there are enough states in the compact to reach 270 electoral votes.  

With Virginia signed on the compact, there are 18 states plus the District of Columbia that have signed on. There are still dozens of Electoral College votes to go in order for the compact to amass 270 votes. 

The bill Spanberger signed states, “Enters Virginia into an interstate compact known as the Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote. Article II of the Constitution of the United States gives the states exclusive and plenary authority to decide the manner of awarding their electoral votes. Under the compact, Virginia agrees to award its electoral votes to the presidential ticket that receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The compact goes into effect when states cumulatively possessing a majority of the electoral votes have joined the compact. A state may withdraw from the compact."

The Virginia GOP posted after Spanberger signed the bill, "Fake Moderate Spanberger just signed a bill to render Virginians’ vote for president NULL AND VOID! HB965 says that all of Virginia’s Electoral College votes will go to the winner of the national popular vote - no matter who wins the popular vote in our Commonwealth. This is an unconstitutional assault on our democracy."

However, Spangberger also got praise from groups that oppose the Electoral College system. 

"Virginia has set another powerful example for other states of how to stand up for representative democracy even as they come under increasing pressure from the Trump administration," said Stand Up America Executive Director Christina Harvey, per Fox News. "The presidency should be won by the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide—not just the right combination of battleground states."

She said that the move "brings us one step closer to a system where Americans’ votes for President and Vice President count equally, no matter where they live."

Patrick Rosenstiel, a spokesman for National Popular Vote, which has been advancing the compact, said he is "grateful" for Spanberger and added, "Their support builds critical momentum for our movement to give 63 percent of American voters what they want, a national popular vote for President."