Amendment would let voters pick president by popular vote, not Electoral College.
H.J.Res. 218 — Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to abolish the electoral college and to provide for the direct election of the President and Vice President of the United States. · Filed by Steve Cohen (D-TN) · Introduced Oct 1, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This amendment would change how Americans elect the President and Vice President. The President and Vice President would be chosen by whoever gets the most votes nationwide. Congress would make rules for ties. Congress would also make rules if a candidate dies or cannot serve. The change would start one year after enough states approve it.
Who it affects
All voters would be affected. People in big cities would have more power in elections. People in rural areas and small states would have less power.
One thing to notice
The amendment needs approval from 38 state legislatures to pass. States with fewer people might resist this change.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Oct 1, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Oct 1, 2026 — 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.
Words to know
- Electoral College — The system where states pick electors who vote for President, not voters directly.
- popular vote — The total number of votes cast by all voters across the country.
- amendment — An official change to the U.S. Constitution that needs approval from states.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,854 characters) on Oct 16, 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.
“Amendment would let voters pick president by popular vote, not Electoral College.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hjres218/simple Report an error
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