Changes the manner by which presidential electoral college electors are elected and create a system of grouping of municipalities of equal populations, one of each of Rhode Island's electoral votes.

Plain-English Summary

This Rhode Island bill would change how the state chooses its Electoral College electors — the people who formally cast Rhode Island's votes for President of the United States. Currently, Rhode Island uses a "winner-take-all" system, meaning whichever presidential candidate wins the most votes statewide receives all of the state's electoral votes. This bill would replace that system by dividing Rhode Island's municipalities (cities and towns) into geographic groupings of roughly equal populations, with each grouping corresponding to one of the state's electoral votes.

Under this proposed system, the presidential candidate who wins the most votes within each population grouping would earn that grouping's electoral vote, rather than one candidate automatically receiving all of Rhode Island's electoral votes based solely on the statewide result. This means it would be possible for Rhode Island's electoral votes to be split between candidates, depending on which candidate wins each population-based district.

This bill would affect all Rhode Island voters in presidential elections, as well as the political parties and candidates who compete in them. Voters in different parts of the state could potentially influence different electoral votes, rather than their votes being pooled into one statewide outcome. A similar approach is currently used by Maine and Nebraska at the national level.

It is worth noting that the bill's sponsor requested it be postponed in committee, meaning it is not currently moving forward in the legislative process. No vote has been taken, and the proposal remains in early stages.