A Pennsylvania lawmaker’s plan to divvy up electoral votes based on a presidential candidate’s public support may be just the first of many state legislative moves to alter the way the nation chooses a leader. State Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, a Republican from Chester, wants to replace the winner-take-all system, which gave President Barack Obama Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes, with one that divides them to reflect the proportion of public support for each candidate. His method would have given 12 votes to Obama and eight to Republican Mitt Romney this year.
Pennsylvania Sens. Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, left, and Don White, R-Indiana, left, talks with Rep. Sam Smith, R-Jefferson, before Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell delivers his executive budget address for the fiscal year 2010-2011 to a joint session of the Pennsylvania House and Senate in Harrisburg in this 2010 file photo. Photographer: Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo
“Anyone who voted for Governor Romney, and many Pennsylvanians did, does not have any reflection of that vote in the electoral college vote,” Pileggi said. “This is a proposal that is not party specific or partisan in any way, but just an attempt to have the popular vote reflected in the electoral college vote.”
Pileggi’s proposal, which he asked senators in a memo to cosponsor, may be the first of a spate presented to lawmakers nationwide. Daniel P. Tokaji, a law professor at Ohio State University in Columbus and associate director of its Election Law @ Moritz center said he wouldn’t be surprised to see Republicans and Democrats seeking ways to “game the system” ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Full Article: Pennsylvania Step May Help Republicans Win Electoral Vote – Bloomberg.