Skip to content

Friday, Nov. 8, 2024

Is Colorado required to give its electoral votes to Donald Trump because he won the popular vote in 2024?


no

Although Colorado joined the National Popular Vote Compact, the pact has not taken effect because not enough states have signed on to make it legally binding. That would happen only if the pact garners enough states to add up to 270 electoral votes or more. So far, 17 states and the District of Columbia have joined, representing 209 votes. 

If the pact takes effect, Colorado must give its electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote instead of the winner of the statewide popular vote. 

In Colorado, the bill to join the pact was signed into law in 2019. Following a backlash, the issue appeared on the ballot in 2020 as Proposition 113 and passed with 52% of voters agreeing to stay in.  

Only four U.S. presidents have won the electoral vote while losing the popular vote. The compact was first introduced in 2006.

See full source list below.

See a full discussion of this at The Colorado Sun

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

About fact briefs

Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.

See all fact briefs

The Colorado Sun is a journalist-founded, award-winning and nonprofit news outlet based in Denver that strives to cover all of Colorado so that our state — our community — can better understand itself. In this way, we believe we can contribute to a more vibrant, informed and whole Colorado. We are committed to fact-based, in-depth and nonpartisan journalism. We cover everything from politics and culture to the outdoor industry and education. Our goal is to produce the best possible journalism. We do that with the help of you, our readers, and community backers. We launched on Sept. 10, 2018.

Learn More

Be a Friend of facts

Help us fund more great fact briefs like this one.