BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit challenging the winner-take-all system Massachusetts uses to assign its Electoral College presidential votes, rejecting the argument that it violates the principle of "one person, one vote."
The case is one of several spearheaded by the onetime lawyer for former Vice President Al Gore that is targeting the winner-take-all system used in 48 states, which critics ultimately hope to get before the U.S. Supreme Court.
They argue the practice of assigning all of a state's Electoral College votes to the winner of a state's popular vote disenfranchises those who voted for the losing candidate and puts too much weight in the votes of those who live in a few key battleground states.
But Chief U.S. District Judge Patti Saris said the system is constitutional and doesn't treat any set of voters differently from another.
"In short, this system complies with equal protection because it does not inherently favor or disfavor a particular group of voters," Saris wrote.
The group behind the case, which includes former Gore lawyer David Boies, filed similar lawsuits in California, Texas and South Carolina. The California case has also been dismissed while the others are still pending.
The lawyers say they deliberately chose two Democratic-leaning states and two Republican-leaning states to argue the winner-take-all system harms voters of both parties.
The Massachusetts lawsuit was filed against Republican Gov. Charlie Baker and Democratic Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin on behalf of two Republicans and William Weld, a former Republican governor and Libertarian Party vice presidential candidate.
