Electoral challenge

2004 Vote | Colorado voters are considering an initiative that would change the way the state doles out electoral votes to presidential candidates | The Editors

Usually, it's cutting-edge California that agitates the nation with hot-button ballot measures such as English-only education in 1998 and marriage protection in 2000. This year, though, Colorado is the rabble-rouser.

Amendment 36, an initiative that would change the way the state doles out electoral votes to presidential candidates, has riveted the attention of partisans, pollsters—and potential litigators. That's because both the Bush and Kerry camps know that in a race this close, the state's seemingly small cache of nine electoral votes could mean the difference in the election.

Today, Colorado, along with 47 other states and the District of Columbia, is a winner-take-all state: The candidate who wins the popular vote pockets all nine Colorado electoral votes. Amendment 36 would split the state's votes based on the popular-vote percentage each candidate wins and, if passed, would take immediate effect. If Mr. Bush's narrow lead in the state holds, he would, under 36, receive five electoral votes to Mr. Kerry's four.