Douglas vetoes bill to bypass Electoral College system

May 16, 2008

MONTPELIER, Vt. --Gov. Jim Douglas vetoed a bill Friday that would have added Vermont to a coalition of states seeking to elect the president and vice president via popular vote instead of the existing Electoral College system.

"I am not willing to cede Vermont's voice in the election, and ultimately in the operations of our federal government, to the influence and interests of larger states that would most assuredly prevail in all but the rarest occasions," said Douglas, who is a Republican.

State Sen. James Condos, who co-sponsored the bill in Vermont, says the big state-small state argument is a red herring. "Whoever has the most votes wins, that's the most simple answer," said Condos, D-Chittenden. "That's how we elect every other position in local and state governments across the country".

Common Cause and the Vermont Public Interest Research Group also supported the bill, and the change.

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