Maryland wants to rework U.S. presidential election processThe Associated Press
ANNAPOLIS, Maryland: The U.S. electoral system puzzled the world in the 2000 presidential election, when Democrat Al Gore won the popular vote but lost to George W. Bush by losing in large states that counted more in the ultimate voting process.
On Tuesday, Maryland became the first U.S. state to approve a plan to sidestep that process by giving its electoral votes for president to the winner of the national popular vote instead of the candidate chosen by state voters.
Under the current Electoral College system, voters decide to support slates of "electors," who meet to choose the president. A candidate needs a majority of 270 out of 538 to be elected.
The new measure would award Maryland's 10 electoral votes to the national popular vote winner. However, the plan would only take effect if states representing a majority of the United States' 538 electoral votes decided to make the same change.
Other states are considering the change. National Popular Vote, a group that supports the change, said there are legislative sponsors for the idea in 47 states.
Hawaii's legislature recently passed a similar measure, sending it to Republican Governor Linda Lingle. California lawmakers adopted the measure last year, but Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it.
North Dakota and Montana rejected the idea earlier this year. Opponents say the change would hurt small rural states, where the percentage of the national vote would be even smaller than the three electoral votes they each have in the overall Electoral College.
State Senator Jamie Raskin, a law professor and sponsor of the Maryland plan, said Maryland is largely ignored by presidential candidates during campaigns because they assume the Democratic state will vote for the Democratic candidate.
"Going by the national popular vote will reawaken politics in every part of the country," Raskin said.
Election Day '09 was a roller-coaster for election reformers. Instant runoff voting had a great night in Minnesota, where St. Paul voters chose to implement IRV for its city elections, and Minneapolis voters used IRV for the first time—with local media touting it as a big success. As the Star-Tribune noted in endorsing IRV for St. Paul, Tuesday’s elections give the Twin Cities a chance to show the whole state of Minnesota the benefits of adopting IRV. There were disappointments in Lowell and Pierce County too, but high-profile multi-candidate races in New Jersey and New York keep policymakers focused on ways to reform elections; the Baltimore Sun and Miami Herald were among many newspapers publishing commentary from FairVote board member and former presidential candidate John Anderson on how IRV can mitigate the problems of plurality elections.