Pennsylvania GOP Revives Plan To Rig The Electoral College

Two Pennsylvania state representatives are bringing back an ill-conceived 2011 plan to divvy up its electoral college votes by congressional district. Gov. Tom Corbett (R) originally proposed the idea, which would give one electoral vote to the winner of each congressional district. Had the plan succeeded, Pennsylvania Republicans would have delivered 13 of the state’s 20 electoral votes to former GOP candidate Mitt Romney.

After President Obama decisively won the state, Reps. Robert Godshall (R) and Seth Grove (R) are reintroducing the proposal. In a memo released Wednesday, they admit that Republicans are no longer competitive in Pennsylvania:

Under this legislation, one elector will be awarded to the winner of the plurality in each congressional district and the remaining two electors will be granted to the winner of the statewide popular vote.

I believe that the Congressional District Method will increase voter turnout and encourage candidates to campaign in all states rather than just those that are competitive. Most importantly, this method of selecting presidential electors will give a stronger voice to voters in all regions of our great Commonwealth.

Thanks to Republican efforts to redistrict the state’s congressional map, the Congressional District Method is not as equitable as it sounds. Republicans have packed high concentrations of Democratic voters into just five districts. Under the proposed electoral college scheme, their votes would count less than votes cast in Republican districts.

Ohio also considered rigging their own electoral college votes, but bad publicity led the Secretary of State to abandon the idea.