SACRAMENTO—California legislators have approved legislation to circumvent the Electoral College.
But the measure could face a veto from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The bill by Senator Carole Migden, a San Francisco Democrat, would ratify an interstate agreement in which states award their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote.
That would avoid a repeat of the 2000 election, when George Bush won the presidency but not the popular vote.
The state Senate approved the measure on a 21-16 vote Thursday.
Schwarzenegger hasn't taken a position, but he vetoed a similar bill in 2006.
He said that bill could send the state's electoral votes to a candidate most California voters don't support.
