Simply Politics & News

[sarals]

Popular vote gets thumbs up in Calif.
By ROBIN HINDERY, Associated Press Writer

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The California Legislature passed a bill that would give California's 55 electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote, rather than the candidate who captured the state — but for now, the measure stands a slim chance of becoming reality.

That's because it could go into effect only if states with a combined total of 270 electoral votes — the number now required to win the presidency — agree to the same process.

Similar legislation is pending in Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana and Missouri — which have a combined 50 electoral votes. With California's 55, the legislation would still be less than halfway there.

The movement is a reaction to the 2000 presidential contest, when Democrat Al Gore won the nationwide popular vote but lost the presidency to George W. Bush, who won more Electoral College votes. Gore also won California that year.

Democrats control the California Legislature. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, has yet to take a public position on the bill, passed Wednesday.

Supporters said the move would boost California's relevance in national elections. California is a key fundraising state for presidential candidates but is often not visited in general campaigning because it is safely Democratic.

"Candidates don't come to California," said Assemblyman Rick Keene of Chico, one of the few Republican supporters of the measure. "We are currently disenfranchised in the electoral process."

But many Republicans criticized the bill.

"This is a way of amending the Constitution through the backdoor," said Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, a Republican from Irvine.

Critics also argued that campaigning would focus on heavily populated areas at the expense of other parts of the state.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060831/ap_on_el_pr/california_electoral_votes