BANGOR – The four electors representing the presidential popular vote in Maine aren’t being fought over like their counterparts in Florida, but they are feeling just as beat up as the election process.

Some states and politicians are looking to abolish the Electoral College, saying it’s an antiquated way of choosing a president. Others are evaluating the way electors are chosen in Maine and Nebraska, saying that tying an elector to the popular vote of a congressional district is more representative of the will of all voters than a winner-take-all approach based on the popular vote of an entire state.

The discussions have increased in frequency and significance in the two weeks that have passed since Election Day, where a tight vote count nationwide has left no apparent presidential winner. Most Americans are watching Florida, where legal debates over whether ballot recounts should be conducted and included in the final tallies are being waged in courts. What happens in Florida will determine the winner.

The discussions have covered the broad spectrum of the way the United States chooses a president. In Maine, three of the state’s four electors – all Democrats – are getting frustrated by the dissenters who either want to get rid of the Electoral College and rely simply on the popular vote, or limit the ballot recount process. The fourth elector was not available for comment.

“I’m getting a little disgusted with those people who think the process isn’t fair,” said Joseph Mayo, one of the electors who also is clerk of the state House of Representatives, about the need for the Electoral College. “Could you imagine where we’d be if we went on the popular vote? There would be recounts in every state.”

Mayo has been watching the political activities going on in Florida. So has William Phillips of Bangor, a computer specialist who is married to Gwethalyn Phillips, chairwoman of the Maine Democratic Party, and Christopher Babbidge, a history teacher in Kennebunk. They, along with Dorothy Melanson of Falmouth, are the state’s four electors.

Phillips said that if a president were chosen strictly by popular vote, candidates would focus their campaigns on heavily populated regions of the country, ignoring smaller states such as Maine or those in the Midwest.

“You can’t run up the score in one region thereby outrunning a national will,” Phillips said.

Maine’s system of selecting electors is different than other states, excluding Nebraska. Two electors were chosen based on the winner of the popular vote in the state’s two congressional districts. The other two were chosen based on the winner of the popular vote for the entire state. Democratic candidate Al Gore won the popular vote in the districts and the state.

If there were to be changes to the Electoral College, the three electors say states should examine Maine’s system of selecting electors. In Florida, for example, Democratic electors would be chosen in congressional districts that favored Gore, and Republican electors in districts that voted for Bush.

Mayo said this elector selection process is more reflective of the will of the voters.

“I think that Maine has always led the nation with good ideas,” he said. “It might make people feel better about their Electoral College.

The attacks on the people actually recounting the ballots in Florida are unwarranted, and a slap in the face of voter confidence in the process, Babbidge said. Regardless of one’s political affiliation, most people would focus on the work and not the outcome, he said, especially when the media and Republican and Democratic observers are looking over their shoulders.

“Plus they’re doing this under public scrutiny,” Babbidge said. “All of those factors throw in the face of fraudulent behavior. The biggest goal is methodical voting. I know I could be down there counting the ballots and if [Republican candidate] George W. Bush happened to be the winner, I know I could certify that.”

Mayo agreed. “I am confident that the recount process will determine the ultimate winner,” he said. “We have to let that process go to the ultimate result. It wouldn’t be fair not to follow the law and to let the recount process continue.”

There’s time to do that, Babbidge said. The Electoral College doesn’t meet until Dec. 18, and there is time for a recount to be conducted in Florida to ensure that process is perceived as being fair and accurate and not reeking with partisanship for one party or another.

“We’re far from a crisis,” he said.

Phillips and Mayo said they both have overseen ballot recounts, whether in an official capacity or as citizen observers. They said they believe in the fairness of the system, and the confidence in them that most voters share in all 50 states.

On Nov. 7, Phillips showed up at a local polling place to watch the voting take place. Any ballots that could not be optically scanned by the machine were set aside in a bin and later reviewed by polling place officials.

“Then they tried to determine the intent of the voter,” Phillips said.

In some cases, voters marked the ballot with check marks instead of bars to complete the arrows. He said their intent was obvious.

“But one person did something that wasn’t counted,” Phillips said. “He circled one party’s presidential candidate and another party’s vice presidential candidate. They couldn’t determine the voter’s intent. There are instructions at the polls that tell them [ballot processors] what they are supposed to do.”

Maine’s four electors will be meeting at 2 p.m. Dec. 18 in the Chamber of the Maine House of Representatives to cast their vote for president. All are sticking with Gore.

“I will do what the people of the 1st District ask me to do,” Mayo said. “It is not a question of me having an opinion. They told me what to do and I will do it.”