Initiative Filed to Award Electoral College Votes by District

An initiative has been filed with the Secretary of State that would award California's electoral college votes in the Presidential election by Congressional District, as opposed to the current method of winner-takes-all statewide. It's currently at the Attorney General's office awaiting title and summary, and language can be found by clicking here.

The initiative isn't presently supported by the CRP: Historically, the party considers taking a position on initiatives only once they qualify for the ballot. The reason for this is simple: the vast majority of initiatives filed never make it to the ballot in the first place.

So far, only two initiatives have qualified for the February 2008 ballot: one would require transportation funds be used for transportation, while the other concerns community colleges.

The idea of awarding electoral college votes by Congressional District is not new: Maine and Nebraska allocate their votes this way. This could get interesting...