That’s the hook that lets the NPV continue to fester.
However, the Constitution is a collection of many clauses, and while NPV may pass muster with the one you cite, it does not with the compact clause.
To be constitutional, laws must be coherent with the entire Constitution, not just selected parts.
“The Constitution pretty much gives state legislatures a blank check when it comes to determining how a state’s EVs are cast.”
Not true. A state legislature cannot award its electoral votes based on race, or gender. It could not pass a law awarding all its electoral votes based on a single party being eligible. I say awarding electoral votes based on how voters cast ballots violates the guarantee of a republic form of government because the electors no longer represent that state but the several states.
Not quite. The Electors must cast their votes based on the election in their state, not elections in other states.
It is important to understand that the very independence of the Electors gives them the authority to refuse to allow their vote to be cast for a candidate who failed in their state. This “pact” denies the right of the Elector to cast their vote as they see fit and makes them rubber stamps of whichever candidate dominates in big cities.
This compact means candidates will be spending 90% of their campaign time in Los Angeles and NYC. This is precisely the problem the EC was created to overcome.
I don’t believe state legislatures have a “blank check” at all. The first time a candidate wins a state and yet loses that state’s electoral votes, you can be damn sure that every racial/ethnic minority voter in that state who voted for that candidate will have a solid civil rights case over their disenfranchisement.