State Reps. Wes Wagner [D- De Soto] and Jeff Roorda [D-Barnhart] have joined Rep. Bob Johnson [R- Lee's Summit] in co-sponsoring a bill that would change the way Americans elect the president and vice-president.

House Bill 2090 proposes that Missouri enter into an interstate compact with other states considering the measure. Under the proposal, once enough states enter the compact to guarantee the allocation of 270 Electoral college delegates - the minimum number needed to elect a presidential ticket - all states in the compact would agree to cast their electoral votes for the candidate who receives the highest popular vote total.

Wagner says the change would replace the current winner-takes-all approach to awarding electoral votes with an assurance that "one man or woman equals one vote."

"We're not changing how you elect the president," Wagner said. "We're changing how the votes are allocated."

The change, he says, would ensure that whomever wins the popular vote nationwide also wins the electoral vote.

Wagner says five states are considering the measure. He said a similar proposal was approved in the Colorado Senate last week.

A constitutional amendment is not needed because it's up to individual states to decide how they will allocate their electoral votes. Two states - Nebraska and Maine - do it proportionally. The other states have winner-take-all.

Historically, four U.S. presidents have won election while losing the popular vote. They include John Quincy Adams in 1824, Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876, Benjamin Harrison in 1888 and George W. Bush in 2000.

In 2000, Democrat Al Gore ended up with about 1 million more votes. But Bush won because of his victory in Florida by less than 600 votes, according to the final tallies.

Bush won the popular vote in 2004 by 3.5 million votes, Wagner says, but would have lost in the Electoral College if 60,000 more voters in Ohio had cast a ballot for John Kerry.

"As a Democrat who voted for Kerry, I wouldn't have thought that was fair," Wagner said.

Wagner says the present bill is designed to promote discussion and a similar measure will likely be introduced next year.

The goal he says, is to have the compact in place and fully implemented in time for the 2012 election.