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Sen. Bill Nelson looks to end Electoral College

By Janet Zink, Times staff writer
In print: Saturday, June 14, 2008

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TAMPA — U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, has introduced an election reform package that calls for abolishing the Electoral College and setting up regional, rotating presidential primaries.

"Let's come back to the essential fundamental principle, which is one person, one vote," Nelson said in his downtown Tampa office Friday. "A democracy like ours will work if you honor that."

The 2000 election, when George Bush won the presidency with the required electoral votes even though Al Gore won the popular vote, and the chaos of the 2008 presidential primaries underscored the need for reform, he said.

Last year, Florida and Michigan were punished for moving their presidential primary dates earlier than national party rules allow, and the votes in those states won't be fully counted at the nominating conventions.

Regional primaries, Nelson said, would eliminate the maneuvering by states to be among the first to hold the contests.

"If that continues what you'd have is states getting earlier and earlier and we'd have the first primary at Halloween," he said.

Even more controversial, Nelson said, is his proposal to get rid of the Electoral College through a constitutional amendment, which would require a 2/3 majority in Congress and approval of 37 state legislatures.

The need for a constitutional amendment, though, could be irrelevant if enough states agree to cast all their electoral votes for the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote nationwide. Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey and Maryland have already agreed to do that, Nelson said.

"You see it's out there," he said. "It's a movement. People are saying, 'I'm tired of the archaic old way. I want a new way.' "

Rebecca Steele, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who discussed the matter with Nelson in his office, said the organization has backed eliminating the Electoral College since 1969.

She called it an "elitist system."

"Some type of reform is really necessary," she said.

Nelson's bill also would require states to allow absentee voting and use voting machines that produce a paper trail.

Janet Zink can be reached at jzink@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3401.