HONOLULU – Residents of small states like Hawaii could have more say in U.S. presidential elections under a bill advancing in the Legislature, part of a growing national movement to elect the president based on the popular vote.

Supporters of the plan say a popular vote would make presidential elections more democratic and force candidates to pay attention to all voters – not just those in key “battleground” states.

Hawaii lawmakers approved a bill out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that aims to make the Electoral College system irrelevant by awarding state electoral votes to the winner of the nationwide popular vote. The measure now goes to the full Senate, and a similar bill is moving through committees in the state House of Representatives.

“In Hawaii, our vote for president doesn't count for much right now,” said John Ratcliff, a Hawaii lobbyist for the National Popular Vote group. “Hawaii is not a battleground state, which is why we don't get any interest out here.”

No presidential candidates campaigned in the islands in 2004, although Vice President Dick Cheney did make an appearance when polls showed the race closer than it turned out to be.

The proposed law, if passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor, would award Hawaii's electoral votes to the candidate who wins the popular vote nationally, taking effect only when state legislatures representing a majority of electoral votes approve similar laws.

The proposal is meant to avoid a repeat of the 2000 presidential election, when Democrat Al Gore lost despite getting more votes than George W. Bush. If the proposed law had been adopted by states carrying a majority of electoral votes, all their votes would have gone for Gore and he would have won, even if Bush and Gore had each led in the same states.

“I guess Al Gore would support this bill,” said Sen. Clayton Hee, D-Kahuku-Kaneohe, chair of the Judiciary Committee. “Voters want to know that their vote counts.”

By introducing these popular vote proposals in state legislatures, the California-based National Popular Vote group hopes to change presidential elections without going through the difficult process of amending the U.S. Constitution to get rid of the Electoral College.

The bill has sponsors in at least 46 state legislatures this year after it was introduced in five last year. California's legislature was the only state to approve the measure in 2006, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it.

“Hawaii is an example of a small state that's totally discriminated against by the current system,” said Barry Fadem, executive director for National Popular Vote. “They don't get a single presidential candidate visit.”

Most campaigning is now down in larger states like Florida and Ohio that could swing the election because they have more electoral votes, Fadem said. Essentially, that makes votes in those states worth more than votes in small states.

Under the proposed system, just winning key states wouldn't win the election, and candidates might be as likely to campaign in places where they were popular to build up their national vote total.

The movement's goal is to get enough states to pass popular vote laws in time for the 2012 presidential election.

Honolulu resident Dorothy Cornell told Hawaii lawmakers Tuesday that some of her friends don't understand why the presidential election isn't decided by a popular vote, like nearly every other state and local election.

“They said, 'It's a bad idea to have the vote not be a popular vote,'” Cornell said in her testimony.

University of Hawaii political science professor Neal Milner said the popular vote effort stands a chance of becoming law because few people like the Electoral College system.

By trying to create an interstate compact to award electoral votes based on the national popular vote, the states could bypass the process of enacting a constitutional amendment, which would need approval by Congress and at least 38 states.

“It's far more realistic than trying to change the Constitution,” Milner said. “Most people feel that the Electoral College has outlived its usefulness.”

Polls conducted since the 1950s have consistently shown that more than 70 percent of Americans prefer electing the president based on a popular vote, Fadem said.