Illinois favors popular vote

SPRINGFIELD, ILL. — Illinois will award its presidential electoral votes to the winner of the nationwide popular vote -- but only if several other states follow suit.

A bill signed into law Monday by Democratic Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich made Illinois the third state, after Maryland and New Jersey, ready to bypass the Electoral College in November. The three states, with a combined 46 electoral votes, won’t act unless states totaling 270 electoral votes -- enough to elect a president -- sign on.

The Electoral College makes the final decision on who becomes president. States get one electoral vote for each member of their congressional delegation. Maine and Nebraska award electoral votes by congressional district, but other states award them on a winner-take-all basis.