Maine lawmakers consider proposal to join interstate compact for national popular vote

State lawmakers are considering a bill that would enter Maine into an interstate compact to elect the U.S. president by popular vote.

The proposal is supported by the League of Women Voters. The League's Will Hayward says a popular vote would ensure that every vote matters equally.

"The president is the president of the people," he says. "Not of the states."

Opponents say the compact does an end run around the Constitution and would make elections more contentious and unfair.

The compact would go into effect when joining states hold a majority of the total overall number of electoral votes. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have joined the compact, as has every New England state except for Maine and New Hampshire.