Pa. Electoral Vote Plan Stirs Passions at Hearing

Lawmakers considering change to winner-take-all system

A proposal to change the way Pennsylvania's electoral votes will be counted in next year's presidential election stirred up passionate exchanges during a hearing in front of state lawmakers.

The Senate State Government Committee hearing Tuesday brought stinging criticism from political scientists about the way congressional districts are drawn.

Republican Gov. Tom Corbett supports changing the current, winner-take-all system as a way to more accurately reflect voter preferences.

The proposal would adopt a system in which voters select presidential electors by congressional district, ensuring that Pennsylvania's electoral votes are divvied up by the candidates.

Sen. Anthony Williams of Philadelphia says the proposal would disenfranchise Philadelphia's large bloc of minority voters and told a Corbett aide testifying that it's duplicitous to suggest that the proposal would benefit them.

Terry Madonna of Franklin & Marshall College says the change would hurt turnout and diminish Pennsylvania's status as a competitive state.

Chris Borick of Muhlenberg College says it is hard to imagine a worse foundation for a presidential election system than gerrymandered congressional districts.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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