While the move to adopt the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact has been making great progress in state legislatures nationwide, a mystery group in Ohio is pushing a different approach that advocates have distanced themselves from and call a possible Trojan horse. Organizers are trying to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot this November, but NPVIC chair John Koza notes that it would only be necessary to pass a statutory initiative—a process that is much easier and cheaper.
Koza also observes that to join the compact, each member must pass the exact same 888-word piece of legislation. The proposed amendment, however, doesn't include the text of the law but instead is vaguely phrased, meaning that if the amendment were adopted, the legislature would have "great flexibility as to what legislation to enact— flexibility for which the petition's backers are willing to spend considerable additional money to achieve."
And just who are those backers? No one's been able to figure that out. Until they come forward and make their aims clear, compact supporters should view this effort with skepticism.