The Democratic National Committee is paying for robocalls targeting 10 Republican state senators in Pennsylvania over a GOP plan to change the way that the state awards electoral votes in presidential elections.
“The Republican Party is scheming to rig the next election because they can’t win on the issues,” said the message recorded by former Gov. Ed Rendell. “This plan will diminish Pennsylvania’s importance in future elections and its role as a swing state where candidates spend time and money focusing on issues that are important to Pennsylvanians.”
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The calls began going out Monday to voters in 10 state Senate districts, asking voters to pressure the GOP lawmakers to oppose the proposed change. Half of the calls are aimed at senators in the Philadelphia region, including Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi of Chester County, who sponsored the bill.
The measure would apportion Pennsylvania’s electoral votes among presidential candidates based on their percentage of the popular vote, instead of the current winner-take-all system. Two electoral votes would be awarded to the statewide winner.
Democratic presidential candidates have carried Pennsylvania in every election since 1988, largely by building up heavy margins of victory in the Democratic bastion of Philadelphia.
Last week, the DNC urged party members in Pennsylvania to lobby Republican Gov. Tom Corbett against the proposal.
The robocalls were first reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer.
