SANTA FE (AP) — The state House on Friday voted in favor of changing the way the president is elected, to guarantee that whoever gets the most votes wins the nation's top job.

The bill the House approved 41–27 would enter New Mexico into a compact with other states to change the current system.

"This would guarantee the presidency to the candidate who received the most popular vote in all 50 states," said Rep. Mimi Stewart, D–Albuquerque, the bill's sponsor.

The new system — which has been adopted by four states — would become operational once there were enough states in the compact to provide the 270 electoral votes necessary to win the presidency.

Under the National Popular Vote proposal, the electoral votes of those compact states would automatically go to whichever candidate won the most votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

New Mexico's five electoral votes, for example, would go to the winner of the popular vote nationally, even if it wasn't the candidate who won a majority in New Mexico.

Under the current system, the president is elected by the 538-member Electoral College.

In New Mexico and 47 other states there is a "winner take all" rule: The presidential candidate with the most votes is awarded all the state's electoral votes.

That can create a disconnect between the winner and the popular vote.

In 2000, Republican George Bush won the presidency with more electoral votes than Democrat Al Gore, although Gore had nearly 544,000 more popular votes.

The presidency, Stewart argued, "is the only election where the second-place winner can win."

Supporters of the legislation say the "winner take all" rule removes any incentive for candidates to pay attention to states that are either safely in their camp or where there's no chance for them.

Instead, they focus their time and money on closely divided battleground states.

Opponents of the measure objected to the idea of New Mexico's electoral votes going to a candidate who didn't win the state.

"I think it would erode the individuality and the sovereignty of the state of New Mexico," said Rep. Paul Bandy, R–Aztec.

And they said it would give too much control to highly populated urban areas.

Rep. Dennis Kintigh, a Roswell Republican, said the system could lead to protracted, bitter vote recounts in precincts across the nation.

"The beauty of the Electoral College is, it says 'Enough is enough. It's the mercy rule ... for certain contested elections," Kintigh said.

National Popular Vote, the organization that is pushing the measure across the country, was a contributor to legislative candidates last year.

It provided $20,250 to Democratic and Republican candidates and political committees affiliated with House and Senate leadership. It also gave $2,000 to Lt. Gov. Diane Denish.

The contributions were made about a month before the November general election.

The four states that have agreed to be part of the compact are Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey and Illinois.

According to National Popular Vote, the compact measure has passed at least one legislative chamber in 10 other states.

With New Mexico's 60-day legislative session at its midpoint, the House-passed bill goes to the Senate.