HARTFORD, Conn. - Connecticut would likely see more visits from presidential candidates if a bill heading to the state House floor makes it into law.

Many Americans view the Electoral College as undemocratic, since its winner-take-all approach does not always represent actual votes cast by citizens. Abolishing it requires a constitutional amendment, so some are pursuing another approach: getting states to enter a compact to elect the president by national popular vote.

Christine Horrigan, vice president for public issues at the League of Women Voters of Connecticut, explains the flaw in the current system.

"That has led to the anomaly of having, several times in our country's history, where the winner of the popular vote did not actually win in the Electoral College, so the president didn't reflect the winner of the popular vote."

Each state that enters the compact agrees to cast its electoral votes for the winner of the popular vote nationwide, Horrigan says, even if the vote in that state went for someone else.

Connecticut has seven electoral votes, one for each member of Congress.

In the 2008 election, Horrigan says, 98 percent of campaign spending went to just 15 so-called battleground states - not including Connecticut, which is considered a reliable state for Democratic presidential candidates. Under the compact, she says, candidates' itineraries would have to expand.

"Then these people would have to come and address people in states that are normally overlooked, because they are considered to be sort of reliable states for one party or the other."

The new system would take effect when the states entering the compact represent the number of electoral votes needed to elect the president. So far, eight states have joined, contributing 29 percent of the 270 votes needed.

The text of the bill, HB 6331, is online at cga.ct.gov

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LWVCT President Cheryl Dunson spoke with WGCH's Tony Savino about the League's Annual Convention, coming up on May 21, 2011, and the League's  position on the death penalty.


Click on the play button below to listen.

Hamden, CT (May 3, 2011)—The Connecticut League of Women Voters’ 2011 State Convention, on Saturday, May 21, 2011 at The Graduate Club in New Haven, features Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow Nicole Gelinas, as its guest speaker.  Every 2 years delegates from local Leagues in Connecticut convene for workshops, networking, and election of state board members. This year, Ms. Gelinas will present the convention with a keynote address on the pros and cons of privatization.

Ms. Gelinas is an accomplished author and a contributing editor of City Journal, described as the nation’s premier urban policy magazine.

She writes on urban economics and finance, municipal and corporate finance, and business issues. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst

(CFA) charterholder and a member of the New York Society of Securities Analysts. Her most recent book, After the Fall: Saving Capitalism from Wall Street — and Washington was published in November 2009.

Commentators have called it a “standout” and “an instant classic” — one of the best analyses of the country’s 2008 financial meltdown.

Gelinas has published analysis and opinion pieces in the op-ed pages of the country’s leading publications, such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and Boston Herald.

For more information, contact the League of Women Voters at 203/288-7996 or online at www.lwvct.org.
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The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization of women and men.  We encourage informed and active participation in government, work to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influence public policy through education and advocacy.

For more information on the League of Women Voters of Connecticut, visithttp://www.lwvct.org.