States May Statutorily Bind Presidential Electors, the Myth of National Popular Vote, the Reality of Elector Unit Rule Voting and Old Light on Three-Fifths of Other Persons

This Article discusses the United States Supreme Court’s July 6, 2020 decision in Chiafalo v. Washington State as it impacts the most in-depth analysis yet published of the proposed National Popular Vote (“NPV”) Interstate Compact. NPV purports to provide for popular vote election of a President of the United States even if the winner of the popular vote did not win the Electoral College. It concludes that NPV cannot accomplish its purported purpose. The article also criticizes a recent article proposing dividing each state’s electors vote in accordance with the popular vote proportions in each such state instead of, as is the case now, unanimously, by the unit rule. Finally, the article criticizes another recent article asserting that the Electoral College is more than just an echo of slavery