In 2016, Donald Trump won the presidency after narrowly carrying a few states to put him above 270 electoral votes.

According to post-election numbers, though, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by 2.9 million.

In other words, in 2016, we had a similar situation as in 2000—where the candidate who more voters picked did not become president. It is unfair, undemocratic, and long past time that we start electing our presidents by national popular vote.

Contrary to popular opinion, electing the president by national popular vote does not require a constitutional amendment.

An effort known as The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is an agreement among several U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award all their respective electoral votes to whichever presidential candidate wins the overall popular vote. Once states totaling 270 electoral votes join the compact—which only requires passing state laws—then the next presidential election will be determined by the popular vote, not the Electoral College.

As of January 2020, fifteen states and the District of Columbia have signed the compact, totaling 196 electoral votes. So, we are already 72% of the way there. If we can make this a national issue now—and encourage Democratic legislatures across the country to sign the compact—the winner of the 2024 presidential election could be determined by popular vote.

Sign if you agree: Elect the president by national popular vote.