GOP attempt to change Nebraska's electoral vote system fails

(AP) — A Republican attempt to reinstate the winner-take-all system for Nebraska's presidential electors was thwarted Tuesday by a legislative filibuster, derailing a GOP effort to increase the chances of their 2016 presidential nominee winning all five of the state's votes.

In the current political climate, it could put Democrats at a disadvantage in states where Republican legislatures drew congressional district lines to give their party an edge.

Critics argued that awarding votes from the state's gerrymandered congressional districts would reduce voter turnout and destroy Pennsylvania's status as a battleground in presidential races.

Nebraska is one of the safest locks for Republican presidential nominees, who haven't lost the statewide popular vote since Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson carried it in 1964.

Supporters in 1991 argued that allocating the votes by district was fairer and more proportional to urban voters in the overwhelmingly rural, conservative state, said former state Sen. DiAnna Schimek, who sponsored the bill to create the current system.