Calling it "critically important" to eliminate the Electoral College system, former Bay State Gov. Michael Dukakis called on lawmakers to join a growing number of states supporting a switch to a national popular vote to elect the president.

"I think it is high time we got rid of the Electoral College and elected our presidents the way we elect every other elected official in the country - by a vote of the people," Dukakis wrote in a letter e-mailed to state lawmakers yesterday. "The overwhelming majority of the American people do, too."

So far, Maryland, New Jersey, Illinois and Hawaii have supported electing the president through a national popular vote. A bill to add Massachusetts to that list is pending on Beacon Hill.

In his missive, Dukakis, who ran for president in 1988, admitted that he focused mainly on swing states during the stretch run of his race.

"Under the current system, running for president means just one thing: focus on the so-called swing states," he wrote. "I did it. Al Gore did it. John Kerry did it, and our Republican opponents did it, too."

"A big turnout in Massachusetts and many other states is irrelevant to winning the election. Only winning the swing states matters."

Dukakis said a national popular vote would help a smaller state like Massachusetts have a bigger impact on presidential politics. States get one electoral vote for each member of their congressional delegation but under the new initiative would give all those votes to the winner of the popular vote nationwide.