Germinal movement to abolish the Electoral College

The NY Times reports:

Further, there is a germinal movement to effectively abolish the Electoral College, awarding the White House instead to the winner of the national popular vote. Maryland recently became the first state to have such legislation passed and then signed into law, although legislatures in several other states have passed similar measures.

No, that is not correct. The proposal is not to award the White House to the winner of the national popular vote, but to whoever gains a plurality of the popular vote. If the proposal is adopted, it will make it less likely that the President will have won the popular vote.