The Associated Press reports on a bill that would change how Virginia’s electoral votes are distributed:
A Senate Privileges and Elections subcommittee advanced Sen. Bill Carrico’s bill Wednesday to consideration by the GOP-dominated full committee next week. Because the vote was 3-3 with one abstention, it reaches the full committee without a recommendation to either report it for a Senate vote or to reject it.
Republicans control the Senate and House in Virginia, and Gov. Bob McDonnell is a Republican.
The bill would apportion electors by congressional district to the candidate who wins each of the state’s 11 districts. The candidate who carries a majority of the districts would also win the two electors not tied to congressional districts.
There’s been a lot of liberal outrage over this bill. But the reality is that it has very little chance of passing. The Virginia Senate is split, with 20 Republicans and 20 Democrats. Already one Republican senator has told ThinkProgress she is “very unlikely” to vote for the bill. And if there is a tie, with the vote being 20 – 20, the tie-breaker is the state’s lieutenant governor, Bill Bolling — who is reportedly flirting with the idea of running as an independent for governor, which suggests he likely wouldn’t want to be the person who passes legislation this controversial.