New York Representative Steve Israel wants to give an extra 29 electoral votes to the presidential candidate that wins the popular vote. Right now it takes 270 electoral votes to win the White House, which puts undue emphasis on a handful of swing states.
From The Hill:
Swing states would retain their importance in the Electoral College, but the additional 29 delegates awarded to the popular-vote winner would fundamentally alter the focus of the campaigns. Candidates would have to target voters in states they have no chance of winning, as well as in states they have no chance of losing.
One of the primary criticisms of the Electoral College is that it puts outsize importance on the horserace aspect of the election in the battleground states even as voters in the majority of the country tune out. If Israel's amendment were to become law, voters in deeply blue and -red states would still have to participate in the election to secure the popular-vote prize for their candidate.
Most analysts believe the 2012 election will be decided by fewer than 29 Electoral College votes.
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