What if electoral votes were assigned to congressional districts - not states?

[abruzzi]

First, if this has been kicked around to death, I apologize.

But I have searched my mind for a way to maintain the existing electoral "balance" (or imbalance, depending on point of view) while eliminating some of the more obvious negative aspects of the electoral college.

It occurred to me that if each electoral vote were "won" or "lost" depending on the outcome of the Presidential vote IN EACH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT, that we would reduce to near zero the chance of a minority of the popular vote electing a president.  At the same time, there would be no gross reallocation of electoral power among the states.

We would be eliminating the worst aspects of winner take all state by state allocation of electoral votes, and at the same time avoid (but not entirely eliminate) the incentive for vote fraud that would attend direct election -- indeed that exists now a la Chicago and Illinois 1960 model.

DOES ANYONE KNOW OF A DATA BASE THAT TRACKS -- BY CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT -- THE OUTCOME OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS, HOPEFULLY BACK TO DAY ONE?

[abruzzi]

Yes, aligning EV and PV is the primary -- and overriding -- objective.  

But there might be other interesting and positive effects.  For instance, it is suddenly just as important to carry Cong. Dist. #3 in Mississippi as it is to carry Cong Dist #24 in California.  Cong Districts ARE distributed on the basis of population, and theoretically should have equal values.  

It's only the winner-take-all phenomenon of the current system that demotes Cong Dist's in smaller states to the electoral equivalent of Latvia.

Oh, yeah, a detail.  The winner take all system would still control 2 votes per state, i.e., the two votes associated with Senate seats, rather than Cong Districts.

[abruzzi]

Gustaf:  First, I couldn't care less which party "benefits" from this idea.  If it aligns PV and EV, that is enuf.  

Second, how do you know it would have helped Bush?  That's the question I'm asking.  Where is the District by District data base.  If you have it, I'll be happy to look at it.  

The point of checking out the data base is to test my assumption that the Dist by Dist system would in fact align PV and EV -- without all the political gnashing of teeth associated with trying to reallocate electoral votes from one state to the next.

So please tell us how you know what the result would have been in 2004.  I would honestly like to know.