The Truth Behind the Republican "Steal the State" Plot
 09.10.07
GOP Petitions can begin circulating
01.24.08
Deadline for the 433,971 signatures required to qualify for the June ballot
06.03.08
If qualified, will appear on the June Primary ballot
If passed, this Republican initiative would isolate California's 55 electoral votes and mandate that they be awarded to the winning candidate by congressional district, rather than the current system of winner take all, which 48 states now use. Click here for full text of initiative.
- Republican backers want to change the way California allocates electoral votes in the 2008 Presidential election by putting an initiative on the June ballot.
- Passage of this initiative practically guarantees a Republican White House by carving up California and handing the Republicans 22 electoral votes from California.
- Instead of awarding all 55 of California's electoral votes to the Presidential candidate who wins the statewide vote, this Republican scheme would carve up California's vote.
- California would give the 2008 presidential candidates one electoral vote for every Congressional district they win.
- This is nothing more than a bald-faced Republican power grab - changing the system in midstream to carve out as many as 22 electoral votes for the Republican nominee in 2008.
- We need real electoral reform on a national level - not a piecemeal, state-by-state approach that gives the Republicans a clear partisan advantage.
- The nation is looking to California Democrats to stop this initiative.
FAQs
What is significant about 9/5/07?
That was the date the California Attorney General issued what is known in the state as "title and summary." This is a key step in the legal process of getting an initiative on the ballot. After the title and summary are issued, those seeking to put an initiative on the ballot can begin circulating petitions to qualify for the June ballot.
How many signatures are needed to qualify the initiative?
433,971 valid signatures.
How much money does it take to qualify an initiative for the ballot in California?
Estimates differ but generally it is expected to cost between 1 and 2 million dollars to qualify an initiative for the ballot.
Do the Republicans have the money for the petition gathering?
The only people who know the answer to that question are the Republicans working on this effort.
What is the deadline for the initiative to qualify for the ballot?
California law permits the proponents of the initiative 150 days to collect the signatures needed to qualify it for the ballot. However, since the initiative must be certified no later than 131 days before the election date, they will have to collect the signatures in less than 150 days. For the June, 3, 2008 primary election, that deadline to qualify for the ballot is January 24, 2008.
What will the GOP's initiative do?
The misleadingly named "Presidential Election Reform Act" (Initiative Number 07-0032) would make California the only large state to award its electoral votes by Congressional District, instead of by statewide popular vote. In order to ensure that Republicans hold the White House next year, well-connected GOP operatives are attempting to put an initiative on California's June 2008 ballot that, if passed, would all but guarantee the Republican nominee could win 22 electoral votes from California in the November 2008 elections (Bush won 22 congressional districts in 2004).
Don't other states award their electoral votes based on Congressional districts?
Only Maine and Nebraska, two very small states, allocate electoral votes by Congressional District; big, Republican-dominated states like Texas and Florida do not.
Who's behind the initiative?
The Presidential Election Reform Act is a partisan power grab by powerful Republican operatives. Tom Hiltachk, a lawyer at the Republican law firm of Bell, McAndrews and Hiltachk, is the author of the ballot measure. They represent the state Republican Party and has received hundreds of thousands of dollars working as Governor Schwarzenegger's campaign attorney since 2003.
Swift Boat ties?
It has been reported by the Associated Press that the lawyers behind this initiative have deep ties to the person behind 2004's Swift Boat ads. Charles H. Bell and Thomas Hiltachk's law firm banked nearly $65,000 in fees from a California-based political committee funded almost solely by Bob J. Perry that targeted Democrats in 2006. Perry, a major Republican donor, contributed nearly $4.5 million to the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth which made unsubstantiated but damaging attacks on Kerry three years ago. Republican political operative Kevin Eckery, the spokesperson for the initiative, has worked with the Republican leadership for more than twenty years (for instance, he was a spokesman for Republican Governor Pete Wilson).
 Newspaper Opinion/Editorials
G.O.P.’s Dirty Tricks Begin
Bob Herbert, New York Times, 9/18/07
The folks who gave us the Willie Horton ads, the Swift boat campaign, the purges of black voters in Florida and endless other dirty electoral tricks are at it again. more
Flawed Vote Initiative
Contra Costa Times 9/8/07
"... if just one or a few large states were to change the rules so presidential candidates could pick up a portion of a state's electoral votes by winning a number of congressional districts, inequities among the states would be created." more
Republican-Backed Plan on Electoral Votes Would be Fairer, But Not for 2008
Santa Cruz Sentinel 9/7/07
"Democrats, with a capital "D," however, have good reason to vehemently oppose a Republican-backed proposed ballot measure that would change the way California's electoral votes are assigned in presidential elections." more
Acting Alone in Presidential Electoral Reform is Unwise
San Jose Mercury News 9/5/07
"California shouldn't unilaterally switch methods of determining how it apportions electoral votes. Any change must be applied equally to all states. Otherwise, it's naked politics masquerading as reform." more
Devious to the Max
San Diego Union-Tribune 9/4/07
"... in practical terms, the only way to look at the GOP initiative is as pure political mischief, designed to force Democrats to waste valuable resources on a sideshow." more
Electoral College Is Flawed, But So is This Tinkering
Vallejo Times Herald 9/1/07
"It smacks of blatant power grab." more
Proposed Ballot Initiative No Way To Improve Presidential Election Process
Stockton Record 8/30/07
"Awarding California's electoral votes based on the outcome in each congressional district is unfair, harmful to democratic precepts and a blatant political power grab. Such ridiculous thinking should be abandoned." more
Election Reform For Losers
Marysville Appeal Democrat 8/29/07
"The impact would be to tilt more votes toward Republicans, perhaps giving a GOP presidential candidate an insurmountable advantage." more
'Reform' For Losers
Orange County Register 8/29/07
"A proposed change, which could be on next June's ballot, in the way California's votes are allocated in the presidential election might have a sheen of fairness, but it is nakedly partisan and profoundly subversive of our constitutional system." more
California's Electoral College Schemes
Los Angeles Times 8/25/07
"Republicans, trying to keep their grip on the White House, want to scrap the winner-take-all system used in 47 other states and instead allow their nominee to pick off California's rural districts." more
Two Electoral College Schemes to Dismiss Now
Sacramento Bee 8/24/07
"With large Republican states such as Texas sticking to the winner-take-all system, a rule change in Democratic- leaning California tilts the election dramatically in favor of the Republican candidate. And that, not fairness, is the real goal here, despite the disingenuous claims of GOP operatives." more
Electoral College Needs Fixing. But Partisan Proposals Aren't The Way To Go
Fresno Bee 8/24/07
"In a close election, 19 Electoral College votes would be more than enough to put a Republican into the White House even if that candidate lost the popular vote both in California and the nation." more
Reallocating State's Electoral Votes is a Bad Idea: Vote No
Palm Desert Sun 8/24/07
"... if a proposed measure that would reallocate California's 55 electoral votes passes, the outcome would fundamentally change how U.S. presidents are elected. No one state, not even California, should be able to do that." more
Stacking the Electoral Deck
New York Times 8/22/07
"If the initiative passes, it would do serious damage to American democracy." more
In Defense of 55 Electoral Votes
San Francisco Chronicle 8/20/07
"This is nothing but dirty politics." more
Ballot Measure Seeks To Change '08 Election
Inside Bay Area 8/11/07
"...California, being the state with the most electoral votes, could swing a close election, which the 2008 race is expected to be. Since 20 electoral votes is equal to Ohio's total, that may be just what Republicans are hoping to achieve." more
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