The Vermont Senate approved a bill Friday that will put the state’s electoral support behind whichever candidate wins the popular vote in all 50 states.

The "National Popular Vote" plan will go into effect once states representing a majority of the Electoral College adopt it, which is unlikely until the 2012 elections.

“Electing our President using the national popular vote would ensure that a vote in Maine counted equally with a vote in Ohio or other swing states,” said Jon Bartholomew of Common Cause Maine, a non-partisan group that is promoting the plan. “It would also mean that the candidate who received the most votes would be elected president instead of sending a second-place candidate to the White House.”