The 83rd. Congress, which will come into existence next January, will have the opportunity of making the election of a president conform with the popular vote of the people. This can be done by changes in the Electoral College system.

Under the present rule, the party that polls the largest vote in a state sends it electors to the Electoral College — one for each congressional district and for each senator — who vote for the presidential candidate of that party.

Senator Lodge of Massachusetts has proposed, with the support of many members of Congress, that the electoral vote of each state be divided between the leading candidates on a percentage basis, according to the strength each party polls in the presidential election. [Republican Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.]

Such a change would have to be made by constitutional amendment, which would have to be adopted by the state legislature, and this procedure takes time, particularly as legislatures convene in alternate years.

This being so, it is obviously up to the incoming Congress to take the first step. Then it will be up to the legislatures to take the second step at their first succeeding session. By so acting, the United States would come nearer than at present to electing presidents by popular vote.