Only two states, Nebraska and Main, don't award Electoral College votes on a winner take all basis. In Nebraska and Main the winner of the popular vote automatically gets 2 electoral votes, with the rest of the electoral votes awarded to the winner of the popular vote within each congressional district.
Obama won the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District and therefore, he gets one of Nebraska's five electoral votes.
According to the Omaha World-Herald, in the 1892 presidential election, Michigan split its electoral votes between Benjamin Harrison and Grover Cleveland.
Perhaps Obama's win in Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District will renew national interest in the split system.
The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).
Every vote would be politically relevant and equal in presidential elections.
The bill would take effect only when enacted, in identical form, by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes—that is, enough electoral votes to elect a President (270 of 538). When the bill comes into effect, all the electoral votes from those states would be awarded to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).
The bill is currently endorsed by 1,181 state legislators — 439 sponsors (in 47 states) and an additional 742 legislators who have cast recorded votes in favor of the bill.
The National Popular Vote bill has passed 21 state legislative chambers, including one house in Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, North Carolina, and Washington, and both houses in California, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The bill has been enacted by Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, and Maryland. These four states possess 50 electoral votes — 19% of the 270 necessary to bring the law into effect.
See http://www.NationalPopularVote.com
Posted by: susan | Sunday, November 09, 2008 at 08:37 PM
The congressional district method of awarding electoral votes (currently used in Maine and Nebraska) would not help make every vote matter. In NC, there are only 4 of the 13 congressional districts that would be close enough to get any attention. A smaller fraction of the county's population lives in competitive congressional districts (about 12%) that in the current battleground states (about 30%). Also, a second-place candidate could still win the White House without winning the national popular vote.
Posted by: susan | Sunday, November 09, 2008 at 08:37 PM