The National Popular Vote (NPV) is an interstate initiative designed to give the presidency to the candidate who wins the most popular votes nationally.  It is a workaround to the Electoral College as commonly understood in the Constitution.

In practice, the NPV is an agreement among states for each of them to award its respective electoral votes to the candidate who wins the national popular vote.  This week, Colorado will become the 12th state to sign on to this compact.  Taken together, these states (plus the District of Columbia) have 181 electoral votes.

The NPV agreement would not go into effect, however, until the participating states hold a majority of the electoral votes.  That would be 270, so currently the initiative is 90 electoral votes shy of its objective.  Once this threshold is reached, it would then guarantee the winner of the national vote the White House.  Under such a system, neither George W. Bush (2000) nor Donald Trump (2016) would have become president.  Al Gore and Hillary Clinton would.  

Eleven states in this agreement are solidly Democrat, with the 12th, Colorado, trending that way.  Of the remaining states, the NPV is grinding its way through the various legislatures to one degree or another, always under Democrat sponsorship.  Although the NPV is not in the headlines, the push for it is relentless.  For example:

[R]ed states like Arkansas, Arizona, and Oklahoma and purple states like Michigan and North Carolina have passed the measure through at least one legislative chamber controlled by Republicans, giving backers hopes of breaking through with the GOP.

Proponents for the NPV say the Electoral College is undemocratic.  With Colorado joining the initiative, Eric Holder came out and tweeted, "Time to make the Electoral College a vestige of the past."  Soon, if it isn't happening already, leftists like Holder will look at the demographics of the states which are pro and con on the question of the NPV and declare that those opposed to the initiative are racists. 

The legality of the NPV is nebulous.  The Constitution defines the Electoral College but does not spell out how each state chooses to award its votes.  Quite frankly, strong arguments can be made on either side as to its constitutionality.  The burden of proof rests with those pushing the NPV.  In the end, it will be up to the Supreme Court to decide.  What is clear is that should the NPV prevail, the structure of the American republic as a form of government will be further weakened.  Yes, the country will technically have more democracy, but it won't be better for it.  From my perspective, this is the opposite direction of where America should be going.