WASHINGTON -- One of Michigan's top Republican lawmakers is interested in a proposal to change the way the state allocates its electoral college votes, in a way that would have handed Michigan to Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election despite the fact that he received a minority of the popular vote.

Currently, nearly every state awards their electoral college votes to the presidential candidate who captures a majority of the votes in the entire state. Only Maine and Nebraska award an electoral vote to the winner of each congressional district, with another two votes going to the person who gets the most votes statewide.

But Republicans in some swing states want to be more like Maine and Nebraska.

President Barack Obama won swing states like Virginia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio in the 2012 election. But through heavy redistricting and gerrymandering, the GOP-controlled legislatures in those states have ensured that most congressional districts are heavily Republican. So if the GOP plan to award votes based on congressional districts had been in effect, Obama could have been chosen by the majority of the states' residents but lost the election anyway.

Michigan House Speaker Jase Bolger (R) said on Friday that he's open to pursuing the strategy in his state. According to Gongwer (subscription required), Bolger believes a bill by state Rep. Pete Lund (R) -- which has yet to be introduced -- is worthy of strong consideration.

"I hear that more and more from our citizens in various parts of the state of Michigan that they don't feel like their vote for president counts because another area of the state may dominate that or could sway their vote," Bolger told Gongwer. "They feel closer to voting for their congressman or their congresswoman and if that vote coincided with their vote for president they would feel better about that."

U.S. Rep. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), however, said the scheme would do nothing but "rig" the next presidential election.

“Let me be clear, this proposal is designed specifically to dilute the influence of minority and urban voters and nullify their voice in the next Presidential election," Peters said in a statement. "Instead of focusing their efforts on ways to rig elections to win with a gerrymandered minority, Republicans should spend their time working to earn a majority of voters."

Lund seemed to acknowledge that there are political motivations behind this push to change the rules. In an interview with the Detroit News, he said he was planning to introduce his bill and admitted that some Republicans were reluctant to support it in the past because it could have hurt Romney.

"It got no traction last year," he said. "There were people convinced Romney was going to win and this might take (electoral) votes from him."

The debate over the strategy heated up in recent days, when Republicans in Virginia's legislature advanced a bill in the state Senate to change the rules of the electoral college, taking advantage of the temporary majority created when a Democratic senator left town to attend Obama's inauguration.

At least two Virginia Republican lawmakers have spoken out against what their colleagues are doing. Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford (R) has also said he is against changing the electoral college rules in his state.

The plan in Virginia appears dead for now, as Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) said on Friday that he opposes it.

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  • 2012 -- Barack Obama

    U.S. President Barack Obama waves to supporters following his victory speech on election night in Chicago, Illinois on November 6, 2012. (JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

  • 2008 -- Barack Obama

    Nov. 4, 2008: U.S. president-elect Barack Obama waves at his supporters during his election night victory rally at Grant Park in Chicago. (JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

  • 2004 -- George W. Bush

    In this Nov. 3, 2004 file photo, President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush salute and wave during an election victory rally at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

  • 2000 -- George W. Bush

    U.S. Republican presidential candidate and Texas Governor George W. Bush casts his vote in Austin, Texas on November 7, 2000. (PAUL RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)

  • 1996 -- Bill Clinton

    President Bill Clinton, wife Hillary and daughter Chelsea wave to supporters in front of the Old State House during an election night celebration in Little Rock, Ark. on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 1996. (AP Photo/David Longstreath)

  • 1992 -- Bill Clinton

    Bill Clinton and Al Gore celebrate in Little Rock, Arkansas after winning in a landslide election on November 3, 1992. (AP Photo)

  • 1988 -- George H. W. Bush

    President-elect George Bush and his family celebrate his victory on November 8,1988 at the Brown Convention Center in Houston. (WALT FRERCK/AFP/Getty Images) <em><strong>CORRECTION:</strong> An earlier version of this slide was titled "George W. Bush." It has been fixed.</em>

  • 1984 -- Ronald Reagan

    President Ronald Reagan gives a thumbs-up to supporters at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles as he celebrates his re-election, Nov. 6, 1984, with first lady Nancy Reagan at his side. (AP Photo/File)

  • 1980 -- Ronald Reagan

    President-elect Ronald Reagan and wife Nancy wave to well-wishers on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 1980 at Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles after his election victory. (AP Photo)

  • 1976 -- Jimmy Carter

    Democratic presidential candidate Jimmy Carter embraces his wife Rosalynn after receiving the final news of his victory in the national general election on November 2, 1976. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

  • 1972 -- Richard Nixon

    U.S. President Richard M. Nixon meets at Camp David, Maryland, on November 13, 1972 to discuss the Vietnam situation with Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger (L) and Maj. Gen. Alexander M. Haig Jr.(R), Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. (Photo by AFP PHOTO/NATIONAL ARCHIVE/Getty Images)

  • 1968 -- Richard Nixon

    President-elect Richard M. Nixon and his wife, Pat, were a picture of joy at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York, Nov. 6, 1968, as he thanked campaign workers. At left are David Eisenhower, Julie Nixon's fiance, Julie and her sister Tricia at center. (AP Photo)

  • 1964 -- Lyndon Johnson

    President Lyndon Johnson proves he's a pretty good cowhand as he puts his horse, Lady B, through the paces of rounding up a Hereford yearling on his LBJ Ranch near Stonewall, Texas, on November 4, 1964. (AP Photo/Bill Hudson)

  • 1960 -- John F. Kennedy

    Caroline Kennedy peeps over the shoulder of her father, Senator John F. Kennedy, as he gave her a piggy-back ride November 9, 1960 at the Kennedy residence in Hyannis Port, Mass. It was the first chance president-elect Kennedy had to relax with his daughter in weeks. (AP Photo)

  • 1956 -- Dwight D. Eisenhower

    President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon salute cheering workers and Republicans at GOP election headquarters in Washington, November 7, 1956, after Adlai Stevenson conceded. (AP Photo)

  • 1952 -- Dwight D. Eisenhower

    President-elect Dwight Eisenhower and first lady-elect Mamie Eisenhower wave to the cheering, singing crowd in the Grand Ballroom of the Hotel Commodore in New York City on Nov. 5, 1952 after Gov. Adlai Stevenson conceded defeat. (AP Photo/Matty Zimmerman)

  • 1948 -- Harry S. Truman

    U.S. President Harry S. Truman holds up an Election Day edition of the Chicago Daily Tribune, which, based on early results, mistakenly announced "Dewey Defeats Truman" on November 4, 1948. The president told well-wishers at St. Louis' Union Station, "That is one for the books!" (AP Photo/Byron Rollins)

  • 1944 -- Franklin D. Roosevelt

    President Franklin Roosevelt greets a young admirer as he sits outside his home in Hyde Park, N.Y., on election night, November 7, 1944. Behind him stands his daughter, Mrs. Anna Roosevelt Boettinger and the first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. (AP Photo)

  • 1940 -- Franklin D. Roosevelt

    American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882 - 1945) speaking to a crowd of 25,000 at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 8, 1940, before his sweeping re-election for a third term. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

  • 1936 -- Franklin D. Roosevelt

    The Republican Governor of Kansas and presidential candidate, Alfred Landon (1887 - 1987) greeting the American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882 - 1945) (seated) prior to the presidential elections. Future United States President Harry S. Truman can been seen in the background. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

  • 1932 -- Franklin D. Roosevelt

    Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York at his Hyde Park, N.Y. home November 6, 1932, seen at the conclusion of the arduous months of campaigning following his presidential nomination in Chicago. (AP Photo)

  • 1928 -- Herbert Hoover

    President-elect Herbert Hoover is seated at a table with wife, Lou, and joined by other family members on Nov. 9, 1928. Standing from left: Allan Hoover; son; Margaret Hoover, with husband, Herbert Hoover, Jr.,at right. Peggy Ann Hoover, daughter of Herbert Hoover Jr., sits with her grandmother. (AP Photo)

  • 1924 -- Calvin Coolidge

    U.S. President Calvin Coolidge and first lady Grace Coolidge are shown with their dog at the White House portico in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 5, 1924. (AP Photo)

  • 1920 -- Warren Harding

    Senator Warren Harding, with wife Florence and his father George, shown on Aug. 27, 1920. (AP Photo)

  • 1916 -- Woodrow Wilson

    Surrounded by crowds, President Woodrow Wilson throws out the first ball at a baseball game in Washington in this 1916 photo. (AP Photo)

  • 1912 -- Woodrow Wilson

    Woodrow Wilson (1856 - 1924), the future American president, casts his vote while Governor of New Jersey, on Nov. 14, 1912. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)