Full Support wrote on Aug 2, 2007 6:50 AM:Since we can't seem to get away from the electoral college, this seems like a good compromise to get us closer to the public actually having a fair say in who leads our nation. It's got my vote!

Lars wrote on Aug 2, 2007 8:05 AM:Congressional allocation of electoral votes is nothing more than a power play by a given state's minority party. The Republicans are trying to do it by initiative in California and the Democrats in North Carolina (a red presidential state) are trying to do it through legislation. The real, non-partisan solution is a direct national popular vote for President. That system would eliminate battleground and safe states as we know them and would therefore make every vote equal. Currently a candidate would much rather have a vote in Ohio or Wisconsin, i.e. a battleground state, than in a safe state like Rhode Island, Montana, or California. A national popular vote would force candidates to compete for every vote and make winning or losing an individual state irrelevant. A constitutional is actually NOT needed to accomplish this goal. I read about a group called National Popular Vote in the Denver Post that is trying to accomplish this goal on a state-by-state basis. Maryland has already adopted such a plan and there is a bill on the Assembly Floor here in California to do the same thing.

Rob wrote on Aug 2, 2007 10:51 AM:Jim, The congressional district system for allocating electoral vote is lousy no matter which party is promoting it. Even more congressional districts are as inherently non-competitive as most states are. And there's a stark national bias for Republicans that's tied to the simple fact that their vote is more widely dispersed geographically. So if done nationally in 2000, George Bush would have won the electoral college by nearly 50 electoral votes while losing the national popular vote. That's hardly representative of people's votes and shows why dog won't hunt. Meanwhile, there's a perfectly sensible solution to all this without a constitutional amendment -- the National Popular vote plan. See [Web site]

Jim Trageser wrote on Aug 2, 2007 11:20 AM:The National Popular Vote plan notwithstanding, the Electoral College cannot be changed but by constitutional amendment. To wit, the 12th Amendment of the Constitution (which updated the original Article II, Section I of the Constitution) reads: "The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; -- the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; -- The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States." AND THE 20TH AMENDMENT, SECTION 3, ADDS: "If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified." Folks claiming we can change the Electoral system with Amendment are on about as solid legal ground as the folks claiming we don't really have to pay an income tax.