That would assure that Republicans would win at least some electoral votes in those states in 2004. Norquist's suggestion reminds us that individual states are vested by the Constitution with the sole power to decide how electoral votes are allocated. The question is whether statehouse leaders will take advantage of the current reform climate to seek to benefit one party over others or to benefit all voters and the nation as a whole. There are several potential fixes to the presidential election system. The most obvious one is scrapping the Electoral College in favor of direct election by popular vote, just as we elect nearly every other office in the nation.
Direct election is a pre-condition to full political equality in presidential elections.
Only direct election can ensure that all votes count equally no matter where people live. Only direct election can provide clear incentives for campaigns to give at least some degree of attention to every voter instead of only those in selected states. Despite these advantages and consistent majority support in the polls, however, direct election is for the moment unlikely. There are important differences, including the degree to which each reform creates partisan advantage. Norquist, according to the National Review article, is a proponent of the latter because of the advantage it would bring to the Republicans.