Hendrik Hertzberg,in the New Yorker's Talk of the Town column, writes that there is a pending California initiative by the Republicans to swipe some of the state's 55 electoral votes. See the August 6th issue.
This would end California's practice of awarding the total 55 electoral votes to the statewide winner for next year's presidential election.
In 04, Bush carried 22 districts, so under this new initiative the Republican candidate can be awarded the number of electoral votes matching the number of statewide districts that the candidate carries.
Even if the Republican party does not win the state this can potentially put more than 10 electoral votes into play in a state that may not actually support the Republican candidate.
The initiative is called Initiative Number 07-0032, the Presidential Election Reform Act.
Apparently, the initiative's sponsor is listed as Californians for Equal Representation. According to Mr. Hertzburg, there is no such organization. Instead, the address for the group is to the offices of Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk, the Californian Republican party's law firm. The cover letter is signed by Thomas W. Hiltachk, the firm's managing partner and Governor Schwarzenegger's personal lawyer for election matters.
I certainly hope folks in the California Democratic party, and the top tier candidates are paying attention. This could present a huge, huge problem particularly if the election is as close as the last two have been.
Perhaps some election lawyers should take a look at this.