For the second consecutive session, Gov. Linda Lingle has vetoed a bill that would allow the state to enter into an interstate compact to elect the president by national popular vote instead of the Electoral College.

In her veto message, Lingle said that under the bill, Hawai'i's four electoral votes would go to the winner of the national popular vote regardless of how the state voted.

Lingle said that would have meant that in four presidential elections since statehood, the state's electoral votes would have gone to a candidate who did not win a majority in Hawai'i, including President Bush over U.S. Sen. John Kerry in 2004.

Three states — Maryland, New Jersey and Illinois — have agreed to join a compact. The compact would not take effect unless states that represent a majority of the votes in the Electoral College agree to go with the national popular vote.

The Senate voted to override Lingle's veto last session but the House balked. This year the bill passed the House and Senate with enough votes in each chamber for a veto override.