House gives preliminary approval to bill to change Electoral College

July 9, 2008 06:10 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

By Globe Staff

The Massachusetts House of Representatives gave preliminary approval today to a bill that could someday rid the state of the Electoral College system and put presidential elections more directly in the hands of voters.

House members voted 119-36 for the bill after a session that stretched through the afternoon. Proponents fought off unfriendly amendments that would have created a commission to study the proposal and postponed debate.

If the measure is approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor, the state would become the fifth state to join a movement toward switching to a popular vote.

"The person who wins the country should be the president," said Representative Garrett Bradley, a Hingham Democrat who supported the proposal.

Under the current system, it's possible for a candidate to win the presidency without winning the popular vote. That happened three times in the 19th century, and it happened in 2000, when Al Gore lost, despite garnering more votes than George Bush.

Proponents of the change say that the current system is confusing and causes candidates to focus on a handful of battleground states. Critics say the change could result in quirky situations in which a state like Massachusetts, typically a Democratic stronghold, would have to pledge its votes to the Republican candidate.

The states have the power under the US Consitution to allocate their electoral votes. Under the proposed bill, all of the state's electoral votes would be awarded to the candidate who receives the most popular vote nationally.

The bill would take effect when enacted by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes (or 270 of 538). At that point, the winner of the popular vote would be assured a majority of the electoral votes, no matter how the votes fall in other states.

Under the current system, all of a state's electoral votes go to the winner of the popular vote in that state.

The Senate is likely to take the bill up next week. The bill is supported by Senate President Therese Murray. Governor Deval Patrick has given the bill a tentative thumbs-up, pending further study.