BISMARCK, N.D. - A movement to essentially dump the Electoral College and give the presidency to the winner of the nationwide popular vote has been defeated in North Dakota and Montana, after opponents said it would eliminate any influence states may have in presidential contests.

Thursday's votes represented the first legislative setbacks this year for the National Popular Vote plan, said spokeswoman Breeanna Mierop.

It is a proposed agreement among states to cast their electoral votes for the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote.

"If you look at the population trends ... if this were to become the law, our presidential elections would be controlled by the vote in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Houston," said North Dakota state Rep. Lawrence Klemin, a Bismarck Republican. "They would decide who the president was, not the rest of us."

North Dakota's House voted 60-31 Thursday to defeat the plan. In the Montana Senate, it lost 30-20.

National Popular Vote supporters say they have legislative sponsors in 46 states, and have introduced legislation in 22. The Colorado Senate approved the measure last month. The California legislature endorsed the agreement last year, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it.

The initiative asks state legislatures to adopt a contract ordering their presidential electors to cast their votes for the winner of the national popular vote for president, regardless of the candidate's results in that state.

It is being promoted as a way of guarding against a repeat of the 2000 election, in which Republican George W. Bush won the Electoral College vote for president despite losing the popular vote to Democrat Al Gore.

Under the present system, voters decide to support slates of "electors," who then meet to choose the president. The Electoral College has 538 members, with a candidate needing a majority of 270 votes to be elected.