Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) will not support a bill that would have reapportioned how his state awards presidential electors, a move that will effectively kill the effort in the state Senate to replace the winner-take-all system currently in place. “The governor does not support this legislation,” McDonnell spokesman J. Tucker Martin said in a statement. “He believes Virginia’s existing system works just fine as it is. He does not believe there is any need for a change.” If the bill were to have succeeded, presidential candidates would have been awarded electoral votes by how they performed in each of the state’s congressional districts, with the winner of the most congressional districts receiving two additional votes. Under such a system, President Obama would have won only four of the state’s 13 electoral votes in the 2012 election, despite winning the state 51-47 percent.
While Republicans control the House in Virginia, the Senate is evenly split, and it did not appear that the bill would have had enough votes to pass. Republican state Sens. Jill Vogel and Ralph Smith, both members of the Privileges and Elections Committee, had told The Associated Press they would object to such a plan.
Full Article: Va. governor signals opposition to GOP lawmaker’s Electoral College scheme – The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room.