To see how this system would have worked in 2000, Bush won all eight of Colorado's electoral votes (it received another in the 2000 census) and got 271 nationwide, compared to Gore's 266. If Bush had only gotten five electoral votes in Colorado and Gore had gotten the other three, then Gore would have won the election with 269 electoral votes to Bush's 268. (The total does not add to 538 because one elector from the District of Columbia apparently did not vote.)

 Although there are legitimate criticisms to make of the Electoral College, the Colorado effort is nothing but a transparently partisan effort to give Kerry a couple of extra electoral votes. If the election this year is as close as the polls suggest that it will be, it could mean the margin of victory.

 The potential closeness of the presidential vote in November raises another issue regarding the Electoral College, which is that the total number of electors is an even number, meaning that an equal split of 269 electoral votes for each candidate is possible. In that event, the House of Representatives would choose the president. A simple solution would be to increase the size of the House by one, creating an odd number of electors.

 Close elections also put pressure on electors to vote contrary to the way they are pledged, which many are allowed to do. In years past, there have been several such "faithless electors," although none has ever affected the outcome of an election. In 2000, there was an organized effort by some Democrats to pressure Republican electors into changing their votes.

 The faithless elector problem is also easily solved. States can require that their electors vote the way they are pledged, which is already the case in 26 states and the District of Columbia. In some cases, it is even a felony for an elector to vote for a different candidate than he is pledged to. A better solution would be to adopt the law adopted by Michigan and North Carolina, which simply cancels that elector's vote and provides for his replacement.