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Delaware Senate Set to Vote on Electoral College Change

2016 Presidential Electoral Map
creative commons
2016 Presidential Electoral Map

DOVER, Del. (AP) - The state Senate is set to vote on having Delaware join other states that want to pool their Electoral College votes for the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote.

The legislation to be voted on Thursday requires Delaware to cast its three electoral votes for the national popular vote winner, rather than the winner of the popular vote in Delaware.

Eleven Democratically-leaning states and the District of Columbia already have voted to enter the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. Democrat-controlled Colorado will soon join the list, giving the compact 181 of the 270 Electoral College votes needed to elect the president.

The initiative was launched after Democrat Al Gore lost to Republican George Bush in 2000. It gained steam after Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump in 2016.

Don Rush is the News Director and Senior Producer of News and Public Affairs at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.