National popular vote

BOSTON - As state legislators made their way through the marathon conclusion of the legislative session last week, one measure that quietly slipped through the cracks was a bill that would reform the Electoral College so the president would be elected by a popular vote.

Last Thursday night, as the midnight deadline drew closer, the measure was passed out the Senate and sent to the House of Representatives. It passed out of the House as well, but had to return to the Senate to be enacted, at which point it would have been sent to the governor. The bill stalled in the Senate as it fell in line behind votes on several bond bills.

If the legislature had passed the bill and Patrick signed it, Massachusetts would have become the fifth state to back the measure, joining Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, and Maryland. In order for the measure to have a practical impact, it would have to be enacted by states whose electoral college votes, when combined, equals at least 270, enough to elect a president. The electoral votes of the four states that have already passed the measure add up to 50.

After much anticipation and much debate, a measure that would abolish the Electoral College as the system by which the U.S. president is elected passed in the Massachusetts House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi (D-Boston)House of Representatives Wednesday afternoon.  

The measure was expected to be voted on Wednesday and was sent to the state Senate after a full afternoon of debate. The chamber debated several amendments and considered shelving the measure until the end of the month before passing it off to the Senate.

The House voted 119 to 36 in approval of the bill.

Deval Patrick says he needs more time to study the national popular vote legislation, but he'll sign it.

The question is: will a Republican governor ever sign one

1988 Electoral College results: Bush: 426, Dukakis: 111, Bentsen: 1This has nothing to do with the pending National Popular Vote legislation, but in case you were wondering....

It's been a while since we checked in on state legislation designed to instill the national popular vote as the method for selecting the president.

Maryland was the first state to enter this interstate compact which pledges a state's electoral votes to the national popular vote winner, thus when enough states equaling 270 delegates in the Electoral College pass the bill, the popular vote automatically go to the national popular vote winner.

No one thought much of Maryland's 10 electors at the time, except for the group's organizers who had had a string of defeats. But in December, New Jersey brought another 15 to the table. And in recent months, both Illinois and Hawaii (where a gubernatorial veto was overridden) have signed their bills into law, bringing the total to 50 electoral votes, and thusly needing another 220 to displace the Electoral College.

Long story short: what once seemed like another trivial attempt could end up a trophy on Gov. Martin O'Malley's mantle in re-making the way we elect presidents.

Presumptive Republican nominee John McCain is preparing for another NH visit in mid-June.  John McCain is coming back to NH for his third visit since the First In The Nation Primary for one reason.  Because we still have the current Electoral College System.