Party electors met this past week in the Old House Chambers of the state
Capitol. They were there to cast 15 electoral votes for Barack Obama for
president of the United States and 15 electoral votes for Joe Biden as vice
president.
It was an exhilarating experience for the Democratic electors. And why
shouldn't it be? Democrats hadn't cast a ballot in North
Carolina's Electoral College
since 1976, when Jimmy Carter was elected president.
It's interesting to note that history could have been a bit different on Dec.
15 if the state House had approved a bill back in 2007 that would have changed
the way North Carolina allocated its electoral votes. Obama still would have
won. But his electoral margin in North Carolina would have been just one vote.
Last year, the state Senate approved a bill that would have allocated North
Carolina's votes in the Electoral College according to how the votes went in
each of the state's 13 congressional districts. The presidential candidate
garnering the most votes in each congressional district would get that
district's vote. The winner statewide would get the state's two at-large votes.
According to a compilation by Swing State Project, Obama carried six
congressional districts in North
Carolina: The First, Second, Fourth, Eighth, Twelfth and Thirteenth.
Republican John McCain won the other seven: The Third, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh,
Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh. (Alamance is mostly in the sixth district).
Since Obama carried the state, the two at-large delegates would have gone
into Obama's column, giving him eight electoral votes to McCain's seven.
North Carolina Democrats in
the General Assembly pushed for the change. Republicans opposed it. It passed
the Senate, along party lines, and was set to be taken up in the state House.
Such a change could have a major effect in tight elections, such as the 2000
presidential election where Republican George W. Bush won with only one
electoral vote to spare.
The Democratic majority in the House decided to pull the electoral vote
change off its agenda for the 2007 session. They thought it might give fodder
for a similar push in California, where such a change would have benefited
Republicans.
Ironically, it was the Democrats who benefited from the decision not to
change the allocation of North
Carolina's electoral votes.
The change, had it gone into effect, would not have come anywhere close to
affecting the outcome of the presidential race nationwide. Obama got 365
electoral votes, or 95 more than the 270 he needed to win the presidency. McCain
got 173.
If you take away the seven votes that would have gone to McCain had the
change been approved, Obama still would have garnered 358 electoral votes,
compared to McCain's 180.
As it turns out, the Democrats made a smart move in pulling the change from
their agenda in 2007. It worked to their advantage in North
Carolina 2008.
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