U.S. Sen. Bob Casey
A proposal in Harrisburg to change how the state's electoral votes are distributed has gotten the attention of U.S. Sen. Bob Casey.
The Scranton Democrat is urging state Republicans to reconsider their effort to award electoral votes proportionally instead of the current winner take-all system.
"(The bill) is the wrong policy at the wrong time," Casey said in a written statement today. "For over 200 years Pennsylvanians have spoken with one voice on presidential elections and that should continue."
In a letter Monday to state Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, Casey asked the Republican from Delaware County to ensure that Senate Bill 538 is considered and debated with complete transparency.
Pileggi's proposal would split 18 electoral votes based on the results of the statewide popular vote. The remaining two would go to the candidate winning the majority.
He has 12 cosponsors for the legislation, including state Sen. Mike Folmer, who represents a portion of Lancaster County.
Folmer has argued that changing the system could more accurately reflect the popular vote.
"You have people that go to the polls and their vote, essentially, doesn't count," he said. "I think it will help those that live in the red parts of the state feel like their vote matters."
But with 20 electoral votes, Casey argued the change would diminish Pennsylvania's influence in presidential elections.
Under Pileggi's plan, President Barack Obama would have picked up 12 of the state's 20 electors in the election this past fall, while Mitt Romney would have won eight.
"Several political scientists have asserted that by doing away with the current winner-take-all system, Pennsylvania's influence would diminish, ceding power to the voters of other large, politically diverse states," Casey wrote in the letter.
A spokesman for Pileggi said there is clearly a difference of opinion on the electoral college, but that Casey seems to have missed a fundamental point: There are no plans to advance the legislation at this time.
If such plans develop, there will be a public hearing as the first step, said spokesman Erik Arneson.
"I've said both of those things publicly so many times now that I feel silly saying them again, but there you go," Arneson wrote in an email. "Perhaps, Sen. Casey and his staff should read some Pennsylvania newspapers. If they did, he would already know this."
