PA's System for Electoral College Votes
Facts:
- In September 2011, Governor Tom Corbett and Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi suggested a plan to change the way PA awards it electoral votes of the winner-takes-all system.
- The new system would include one electoral vote to be given to each state's Congressional district, and the winner of the popular vote would receive two more.
- I PA had gotten rid of the winner-take-all system in 2008, President Obama would have bare beaten John McCain in a 11-10 vote, instead of taking all 21 electoral votes.
- Democrats have won PA in the last five presidential elections, yet it still remains competitive.
- Giving two electoral votes to the state winner won't motivate candidates to campaign, as they should, to win the votes.
- Changing the system would not create a significant improvement for society, and may even make matters worse for existing problems of the electoral college.
- Republicans worried that Democrats would spend more money for resources in swing congressional districts that were won by them because it's possible to change the state's political standing.
- The concept of awarding electoral votes by congressional district was introduced and followed by since the 1950s, when a republican senator and GOP Rep. wanted to fight the liberal push for direct popular election of President.
- A secretive, nonprofit group called All Votes Matter has been pushing the electoral vote scheme since May in PA.
- Between April and June, this group spent $77,700 to get support from legislation to actually implement this scheme.
Questions:
- How is the Electoral College "broken"?
- How could Congress improve the electoral college system on a national level?
- Does Pileggi think his plan is more beneficial or useless for PA and why?
- Would this plan change the political standing of several states or have no effect (if a state is democrat or republican)?
- How might elections affect the economy?
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