Washington state today became the fifth state to enter a binding agreement with other states to cast their presidential electoral votes for the national popular vote winner once participating states collectively have a majority of electoral votes.

Gov. Christine Gregoire signed the bill Tuesday, adding Washington's 11 electoral votes to those of Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland and New Jersey. Collectively, these five states have nearly a quarter of the electoral votes necessary to activate the agreement, keeping the 2012 election very much in play for the first election to be governed by a national popular vote in all 50 states and D.C. -- one where every vote will be equal wherever it is cast and the candidate with the most votes will win.

The National Popular Vote bill has now been introduced in 48 states, and legislators in the remaining two states have publicly committed to introducing it in the coming year. It has passed 27 of our nation's 99 state legislative chambers and earned the public support of more than 1,650 state legislators. To track the latest on the NPV plan, visit the website of our reform ally National Popular Vote.  For more on just why the plan is so important, see our Frequently Asked Questions and Presidential Election Inequality report and enjoy our snazzy video created by FairVote North Carolina last year.