THESE CONCLUSIONS ARE PUBLISHED IN A NEW BOOK, "CHOOSING A PRESIDENT: THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE AND BEYOND," EDITED BY K-U POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSORS BURDETT LOOMIS AND PAUL SCHUMAKER.

SCHUMAKER SAYS THE RESEARCHERS EXAMINED SIX ALTERNATIVES TO THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM. THE 37 POLITICAL SCIENTISTS WERE ASKED WHETHER THEY APPROVED OF EACH SYSTEM.

Schumaker: "Approval means that you can approve of a system. Even though you don¯t think it's your first choice you can live with it. The Electoral College was approved by 26 of the 37 people. No other system was approved by the majority." (15 sec.)

THE CURRENT SYSTEM WAS CRITICIZED AFTER THE 2000 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, BECAUSE THE POPULAR VOTE WINNER, DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE AL GORE, DID NOT WIN THE PRESIDENCY. BUT SCHUMAKER SAYS DIFFERENT ELECTION RULES CAN LEAD TO DIFFERENT RESULTS.

Schumaker: "What political scientists have learned is that in any close election, the outcome will vary depending upon the rules that you use for counting up the votes. And when you analyze these things there's simply no way of figuring out which system is fair."(19 sec.)

ONE ALTERNATIVE TO THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE IS A RUNOFF SYSTEM WHEREBY IF ONE CANDIDATE DOESN'T CAPTURE MORE THAN FIFTY PERCENT OF THE POPULAR VOTE, THE TOP TWO CANDIDATES GO HEAD-TO-HEAD IN A RUNOFF ELECTION. SCHUMAKER SAYS A RUNOFF SYSTEM HAS DRAWBACKS.

Schumaker: "If you look at other systems that have had runoffs, you often will find that the candidate who has had the most in the first election did not win in the runoff, because the other candidate was more popular among the candidates that--- were eliminated. Which is the most fair outcome? Should it have been the winner of the popular vote, or should it have been the person who won the majority vote?" (24 sec.)

SCHUMAKER SAYS ONE OF THE DRAWBACKS OF THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE SYSTEM IS THAT SOME STATES ARE SAFE FOR A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE. SO SOME VOTERS IN THAT STATE ARE NOT INCLINED TO GO TO THE POLLS.

Schumaker: "Everybody knows that Kansas is a Republican state and it's very, very, very, very unlikely that the Democrat is going to have the majority in Kansas. And that means that people have a disincentive to show up to vote, when you know it doesn't matter." (17 sec.)

SCHUMAKER HOPES THE BOOK WILL LEAD TO MORE DISCUSSION OF THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE SYSTEM, AND THE ALTERNATIVES.

Schumaker: "I think that it's an important enough issue that people ought to become better informed about it, know the strengths and weaknesses of the system and the alternatives." (19 sec.)