To the Editor:

The 2012 presidential election will probably be decided by 8 to 12 battleground states. As happened in 2000 and three 19th-century elections (1888, 1876 and possibly 1824), the electoral-vote winner might well be different from the popular-vote winner.

But don’t blame the Electoral College. These divided verdicts are the product of laws passed in 48 states (Maine and Nebraska are the exceptions) that mandate that all their electoral votes go to the popular-vote winner in that state, even if he or she fails to win a majority.

The cleanest way to prevent divided verdicts is to abolish the Electoral College and substitute direct popular vote for the president. (Allocating electoral votes in each state in proportion to the popular votes for each candidate will not always succeed.) But direct popular vote would require a constitutional amendment.