Maine to consider National Popular Vote

Rep. John Martin, D-Eagle Lake, is sponsoring a bill to move to a National Popular Vote, which would award the presidency to the candidate who gets the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. A group lobbying for this change, National Popular Vote, commissioned a poll that shows 77 percent of Mainers support the idea. So far, only four states (Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey) have enacted bills to get away from the Electoral College system. Martin said in a statement that when Maine split its Electoral College votes in 1969, it was attempting to make it a fairer system. "Now we have identified a way to achieve our original goal: to realize the principal of one person one vote," he said. The measure has bipartisan support, with Sen. Peter Mills, R-Cornville, on board. "We need a system where candidates for President of the United States have to campaign in every state, not just in Ohio, Florida and so-called swing states," Mills said. Yet the switch is not without its detractors. The League of Women Voters of the United States and the Cato Institute have issued statements against making the change. They argue that candidates will simply flock to major media markets to get their messages out, so the change will not prompt candidate visits to rural states, as supporters hope. On Wednesday, the Legislature's Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee will hold a public hearing on Martin's bill at 1 p.m. in room 437 of the Statehouse.