Udall, a Democrat, answered the tough questions like a seasoned pro, staying away from the partisanship that is running rampant in Florida. But he said elections in general open up discussions of what is important to people, and this one has started a national discussion on the Electoral College. He said the Electoral College should not be disbanded, because it helps smaller states like New Mexico have a voice in presidential elections. If a president were elected solely through a popular vote, he said, states with small populations wouldn't have much of a voice and candidates wouldn't bother to campaign there. Udall said he would support changes along the lines of what Nebraska and Maine do when selecting delegates to the Electoral College.
Most states appoint all of their electors based on who gained the most votes in a state.
States have the same number of electors as their number of senators and representatives in Congress. Maine and Nebraska, however, choose two electors for the candidate who wins the state and then assign the remaining electors to the candidates who get the most votes in each congressional district. In that scenario, New Mexico probably would have assigned three electors for Al Gore and two for George Bush, Udall said. Udall said any changes in the way electors are chosen would be up to states and wouldn't require a constitutional amendment. One questioner asked Udall why he came to the middle school and why he acknowledged the school in the Congressional Record, which contains the official minutes of the Congress.