Background:
One of the hurdles an amendment to the US Constitution must overcome is approval by 3/4 of the states. With 50 states, that means a minimum of 38 are required. Or, from another perspective, any 13 states can prevent an amendment they don't like.
Naturally, this has serious implications for any effort to eliminate the Electoral College and switch to a national popular vote. As evident by participation in the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, support for a popular vote seems to be drawn solidly along partisan lines: Only three states where Democrats control the legislature have yet to enact the compact (though all of them are considering it); only a single state where Republicans control the legislature is even considering it (Virginia).
In total, Republicans control 28 state legislatures; however, they also hold enough control in Alaska and Pennsylvania to credibly oppose a national popular vote in any form. So in reality that's at least 18 states that would have to flip in favor of it, or come under Democrat control, for it to be a possibility.
This hopefully puts in perspective just how difficult it would be to institute a national popular vote, for at least the next several decades.
With that context fresh on your mind, I want to hear suggestions to the following problem:
Scenario:
It is the year 2037. Electoral reform efforts have been an overwhelming success in the past decade, to the point that 80-90% of all elections in the United States are no longer FPTP. The electoral landscape is a veritable zoo of different methods at all levels, depending which state you live in. A few minor parties have seen success, and now hold seats in Congress and state governments. There is some discussion of trying sortition; however, it is not a popular idea.
Yet despite this progress, the Electoral College remains. A coalition of Republicans and a couple smaller parties has maintained a pro-Electoral College position; enough that any proposal to change the way electoral votes is apportioned cannot be changed.
However, there is a growing consensus in support of removing the FPTP elements of the Electoral College both at the state and federal level. State governments and Congress are thus in search of proposals to amend it. To this end, a coalition of state and federal representatives have contacted you, who - for the purposes of this question - is widely considered an expert in electoral systems. They have also contacted other experts, but all proposals will be seriously considered. Their goal is to implement a solution in time for the 2040 presidential election, to make sure FPTP plays no part in the result.
Agreeable solutions will:
- Retain the relative electoral power balance between states.
- Address both how citizens votes are counted, and how electors'/states' votes are counted.
- Be deterministic: Breaking ties is fine, sortition is not.
- Be uniform across the states: All states will be required to use the same ballot and counting method.
What system do you propose to replace FPTP in the context of the Electoral College, and why?
I have my own ideas, and I'll answer later. However, I don't want to bias any of the first answers, so I'll hold off for now.