Proposal to remake Senate and Electoral College by national popular vote
H.J.Res. 102 — Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States providing that the Senate is made more representative by adding twelve Senators to be elected using a national popular vote, and providing for twelve Electors at-large for President and Vice-President, who shall cast their ballots for the respective winners of the national popular vote. · Filed by Sean Casten (D-IL) · Introduced Jun 25, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This constitutional amendment proposal would add 12 senators elected by a nationwide popular vote (one vote per citizen, regardless of state) and 12 at-large presidential electors who vote for the national popular-vote winner. The 12 new senators would rotate through the three Senate classes so that four seats are contested every two years; vacancies would be filled by state governors appointing someone from the departing senator's party. The amendment requires ratification by three-fourths of state legislatures.
Why we flagged it
This is a straightforward constitutional amendment proposal that restructures Senate representation and presidential selection to be based on national popular vote rather than state-based allocation. It makes no hidden carve-outs or narrow beneficiaries—it is a systemic governance reform.
What the text implies
- Ratification requires 38 state legislatures to approve, meaning 13 states could block it—low-population states that benefit from current Senate structure have strong incentive to reject it.
- Vacancy-filling mechanism (state governor appoints replacement from same party) creates a gap between popular will and actual representation if a senator dies mid-term before the next election.
- Congress retains power to set election procedures and determine which federal entity counts votes, creating potential for partisan manipulation of ballot access, voter registration deadlines, or counting rules.
- The amendment does not specify how ties are broken in the national popular vote for Senate seats, potentially leaving close elections unresolved.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Citizens gain direct democratic representation in the Senate (currently each state gets 2 senators regardless of population) and the presidency is no longer filtered through state-based electors. A voter in Wyoming or California would have equal weight in choosing 12 senators and 12 electors, reducing the structural advantage of low-population states and making federal government more responsive to national popular will.
Named in the bill
U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, Electoral College, Congress, State legislatures, District of Columbia, U.S. territories
Where it stands
- Jun 25, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 25, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (4,886 characters) on May 21, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Proposal to remake Senate and Electoral College by national popular vote” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hjres102 Report an error
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