A lawmaker sponsors a bill to have Maine join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact

AUGUSTA, Maine — A Maine legislative committee has endorsed a bill that would add Maine to a growing list of states pushing to elect the President of the United States via national popular vote.

The bill sponsored by Democratic Senate President Troy Jackson proposes that Maine join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. The Portland Press Herald reports the Legislature's Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee voted 6-3 on Monday to endorse on party lines, with Democrats in support and Republicans opposing.

The compact would only go into effect when its membership represents at least 270 electoral votes. Maine has four electoral college votes.

Eleven states and the District of Columbia have already signed on to the compact agreement.