State legislatures in North Dakota and Montana defeated bills Thursday that would have given each state's presidential electoral votes to the winner of the nationwide popular vote, according to The Associated Press.
The rejected bills were sponsored by supporters of National Popular Vote, a group that wants to effectively dismantle the Electoral College by awarding as many states' electoral votes to the winner of the nationwide popular vote as possible, according to the AP.
North Dakota State Rep. Lawrence Klemin, R-Bismarck, an opponent of the proposal, said adopting the proposal would take power away from less populated states.
"If this were to become the law, our presidential elections would be controlled by the vote in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Houston," Klemin said. "They would decide who the president was, not the rest of us."
National Popular Vote said it had sponsors in the legislatures of 46 states and introduced legislation in 22. The Colorado Senate approved the legislation last month. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-Calif., vetoed similar legislation last year after it was approved by the state legislature.
