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Lofgren proposes
abolishing Electoral College
Associated Press
Erica Werner
WASHINGTON
- President Bush would
have been re-elected this month even if there wasn't an Electoral
College, but that hasn't dampened the enthusiasm of some Democrats
for abolishing it.
Arguing that voters in populous states like California are
underrepresented by the Electoral College, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San
Jose, introduced a constitutional amendment Friday to eliminate it
and provide for direct election of the president and vice president.
"Changing the Constitution in this way should not be about
advantaging one party over the other," Lofgren said. "It's
about treating each American voter equally."
The introduction of Lofgren's amendment is symbolic - coming on
one of the final days of the 108th Congress, it won't be acted on
this year. But she said she hoped it would draw attention to the
issue.
"I wanted to put it in as a marker and I'm hoping that it
might gain the support of people in both parties, as it
should," she said.
The Electoral College gives states the same number of
presidential electors as they have House members and senators. But
since every state automatically has two senators and at least one
representative no state has fewer than three electoral votes. That
means voters in sparsely populated states like Wyoming are
overrepresented compared to states like California.
With 500,000 residents, Wyoming has one elector for every 165,000
people, according to Lofgren's office; California has over 35
million residents which amounts to one elector for every 635,000
people. Wyoming has three electoral votes while California has 55,
by far the most in the nation.
When Bush lost the popular vote but won the Electoral College
vote and the presidency in 2000, some Democrats clamored for
scrapping the Electoral College, but Republican-controlled
congressional committees wouldn't schedule hearings.
Numerous attempts to abolish the Electoral College have failed.
Amending the Constitution requires a two-thirds vote in both houses
of Congress and ratification by 38 states - no easy feat because
small states are unwilling to abandon the disproportionate influence
they get from the Electoral College.
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