LANSING – A majority of Michigan voters favors changing the way the state awards electoral votes in presidential elections from winner-take-all to by congressional district, but a majority then opposes the change when told that Mitt Romney would have won more electoral votes in Michigan under this system despite President Barack Obama carrying the state.

According to a poll commissioned by Gongwer News Service, 50 percent of those surveyed favored going from a winner-take-all system to one that awards one electoral vote to the winner of each congressional district and two electoral votes to the statewide winner. Thirty-eight percent of those surveyed opposed the idea.

But that result reverses to 43 percent in support and 52 percent in opposition after being told that Mr. Romney would have received nine of Michigan’s electoral votes compared to seven for Mr. Obama even though Mr. Obama won Michigan by 9.5 percentage points. The reduced support also came after those surveyed were told moving to a similar system in other states would have meant Romney winning the presidential election even though Mr. Obama won the popular vote by 5 million votes.

The poll was done after controversy erupted about legislation Rep. Pete Lund (R-Shelby Township) plans to introduce establishing the electoral vote by congressional district system and Republican moves in several states that tend to vote Democratic for president to set up the same system.

The poll was conducted by EPIC/MRA of 600 active and likely voters between February 5-10, at least a week after Governor Rick Snyder and Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville (R-Monroe) stated their skepticism about the idea. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Talk of moving on the change appears to be wilting in other states as well.

The poll indicates there is truly a “partisan effect” built in answering the questions, said Bernie Porn, president of Lansing-based EPIC/MRA.

A total of 253 Democrats were surveyed, 223 Republicans and 107 Independents. Among those, support among Democrats nosedives from 32 percent in favor and 56 percent opposed initially to 12 percent in favor and 83 percent opposed. Independents stay about the same in terms of support and opposition, going from 45 percent in favor and 44 percent opposed initially to 42 percent in favor and 49 percent opposed upon learning of the impact.

Republicans were also pretty consistent, going from 73 percent support and 15 percent opposed to 76 percent support and 19 percent opposed after being told of the impact the change would have.

“For Republicans who become more supportive, obviously to a certain extent realizing ‘Gosh Mitt Romney would’ve won Michigan,'” Porn said. “Whereas Democrats, not realizing the impact, overwhelmingly shift toward opposition and independents … don’t shift as much.

“Hearing what the impact would be, that did in fact cause Republicans to move toward support even knowing the results whereas Democrats dramatically shifted toward opposition,” he said.

Overall, women polled became less supportive of changing the system after learning of the implications it could have had on the 2012 election. After 47 percent of women initially said they supported the idea with 38 percent opposed and 15 percent undecided, women shifted to 37 percent in favor and 58 percent opposed with 6 percent still undecided after hearing the impact the system would have had on the 2012 election.

But showing a somewhat different trend than usual on a controversial topic is Republican women, Mr. Porn said. According to those surveyed, women who identify as Republicans went from 65 percent initially in favor and 21 percent opposed (14 percent undecided) to 72 percent in favor and 25 percent opposed (3 percent undecided) when learning Romney could have taken the election. Republican men, by contrast, proved to be staunch supporters going from 80 percent in favor of the change initially and 79 percent still in favor of the change after knowing the impact.

“It’s always interesting to look at difference on issues between Republican men and Republican women,” Porn said, pointing specifically to issues such as education funding and the state’s pension tax. “Women, when they’re more moderate, sometimes cause the administration to be more moderate on their views. The difference (of opinion) between Republican men and Republican women ultimately caused a change in the way the (pension tax) proposal was drafted.”

By sharp contrast, women who identified as Democrats went from 34 percent initial support to 9 percent supportive after learning of the impact. Instead, their opposition to the proposal went from 51 percent to 87 percent after being told Romney would receive more votes. Democratic men also saw striking differences, going from 29 percent support and 64 percent opposed to 19 percent support and 78 percent opposed on the second question.

A total of 109 Democratic men, 144 Democratic women, 120 Republican men, 103 Republican women, and 52 Independent men and 55 Independent women were included in the survey.

There also was a division along racial lines. Fifty-two percent of whites, 35 percent of African-Americans and 48 percent of others supported changing the system when first asked. After being told of the implications, 47 percent of whites, 13 percent of African-Americans and 34 percent of others surveyed were supportive of the idea.

The 18-35 age bracket also showed some interesting results, with 61 percent in favor and 28 percent opposed to changing Electoral College voting initially, followed by 42 percent in support and 54 percent opposed after being told the impact. The most consistently supportive group came in the 35-49 age bracket, whose support-opposition went from 48-41 percent to 47-50 percent between the two questions.

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