Presidential electoral votes

A Michigan lawmaker has proposed a bill that would split the state’s electoral votes in presidential elections instead of awarding them all to a single candidate.

“Michigan is a flyover state for presidential elections, ” Rep. Pete Lund (R), the bill’s sponsor, said in a statement. “Candidates running for president currently don’t feel the need to come to Michigan in order to win.”

HB 5974 would give the candidate who received the most popular votes half of the state’s allotted electoral votes plus one, and then additional electoral votes for every 1.5 percent of the popular vote they receive.

Michigan Live calculated that under this proposal, President Obama would have received 12 electoral votes in the 2012 election, instead of the full 16, and Mitt Romney would have received four.

“This bill guarantees the winner of the popular vote still gets the majority of electors while making Michigan an important state for presidential elections, ” Lund said.

He said the bill would force candidates “to speak on issues affecting our state, and more importantly, create policies that benefit all Michigan residents.”