To prevent Republicans from rigging the electoral college, we must switch to a national popular vote. And it really can be done: states worth 132 electoral votes have already pledged to allot all of their EVs to the national popular vote winner if other states, adding up to 270 EVs, pledge to do the same. With 138 EVs to go, the electoral college would be overruled by the national popular vote by 2016.

According to the National Popular Vote Project, the following states have passed legislation to make the switch:

• California (55 EVs)

• Illinois (20)

• New Jersey (14)

• Washington (12)

• Massachusetts (11)

• Maryland (10)

• Hawaii (4)

• Vermont (3)

• DC (3)

These additional states now have Democratic governors and legislatures and can now pass an NPV law:

• New York (29 EVs)

• Minnesota (10)

• Colorado (9)

• Connecticut (7)

• Oregon (7)

• West Virginia (5)

• Rhode Island (4)

• Delaware (3)

Adding these states and their 74 EVs to the total would get us to 206 EVs with 64 to go. Rhode Island actually has a Republican-turned-independent governor, but they also have massive, veto-proof Democratic supermajorities in the state house and senate. West Virginia might be tough, given its preference for Republican presidents. And in New York, six Democrats in safe Democratic districts decided to give control of the senate to a Republican-independent coalition, even though Democrats have more senate seats. New Yorkers can debate in the comments the odds an NPV bill could pass there, or the odds the Democratic majority can retake control of the Senate in 2014.

To get the rest of the way to 270 will take ballot initiatives. Fortunately, polling shows Democrats, Republicans and independents all want to abolish the electoral college, by 66-30%, 61-30% and 63-29% margins, respectively. But we can expect Republican voters to change their minds once Fox News and the GOP echo chamber tell them it's an unconstitutional, undemocratic, anti-American liberal scheme. We can also hope Democratic and independent support rises once voters see what Republicans are plotting. Here, then, are states Obama won that have workable initiative processes and aren't listed above:

• Florida (29 EVs)*

• Ohio (18)*

• Michigan (16)*

• Nevada (6)

• Maine (4)

Asterisks denote states with Republican governors and legislators where a constitutional initiative would be necessary to prevent the legislature from overturning public will. Adding these states and their 73 EVs would total 279 EVs, 9 EVs past the goal.

There are also some long-shot states — red states with constitutional initiative processes — that we can fall back on in case some blue states prove intractable. Here they are, in order of narrowest 2012 loss for Obama:

• Arizona (11 EVs) -9% margin

• Missouri (10) -9%

• Mississippi (6) -12%

• Montana (3) -14%

• South Dakota (3) -18%

• North Dakota (3) -20%

• Nebraska (5) -22%

• Arkansas (6) -24%

• Oklahoma (7) -34%

So here's what needs to be done. The quick band-aid fix is to pass winner-take-all constitutional amendments in Florida, Ohio and Michigan to block the Republican strategy. These amendments would simply declare that all of the state's electoral votes must go to the winner. That obvious and simple proposal should be popular enough to win relatively easily, and could possibly foil the national GOP plot all on its own. The next step is to pass NPV initiatives in Florida, Ohio, Michigan, Nevada and Maine.

We also need to contact the governors, legislatures and state Democratic parties in New York, Minnesota, Colorado, Connecticut, Oregon, West Virginia, Rhode Island and Delaware and not only get them on board but find powerful champions for the cause to make sure NPV laws pass. Alternatively, NPV initiatives can be passed in Colorado and Oregon.

We also need to contact the DNC to get them organizing with the states on NPV. Also, forward this info to your favorite local and national progressive blogs, columnists, TV and radio talk hosts, political leaders and advocacy organizations.



TALKING POINT: Hi! As you may know, the national Republican party has endorsed a scheme to make it all but impossible for Democrats to win the White House, by splitting up the electoral votes of states Obama won. Under the plan, Obama would have lost to Romney last November despite winning 5 million more votes. ( tinyurl.com/gopscheme ) But there's one way to prevent this from happening, which is to switch from the electoral college to a national popular vote. Several states have already made the switch to a national popular vote. ( tinyurl.com/npvplan ) I'm urging you to please read about and support a switch in order to prevent Republicans from exploiting loopholes in the electoral college. Thank you very much!

I've added(4) to the list of states that can act legislatively. Though they have a Republican-turned-independent governor, Democrats have massive supermajorities in the state house and senate that can override any potential veto.