Using Advisory Opinions (Not the Podcast)

The National Popular Vote Compact, if adopted by enough states, presents legal issues that are almost impossible to resolve in a federal court before a presidential election. This is a serious problem, as the ground rules for the campaign would be unclear and a crisis could ensue if the election results in a split verdict (compact one way and traditional Electoral College the other way).There is a partial solution though. Some states that have already joined the compact permit their state Supreme Courts to issue advisory opinions. In those states, such a case should be brought now to see if the state constitution permits that state to participate in the compact. Those state courts could also give an assessment of whether congressional approval for the compact is required.This approach is not perfect. Any state court statements about federal law could not be appealed to the Supreme Court because an advisory opinion is not an Article III case subject to certiorari. But if a state court…

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