Nebraska and Maine are the only two states to split their electoral votes. But Legislative Bill 777, the bill Senator Beau McCoy of Omaha is proposing, would shift Nebraska to a system where the winner of the statewide popular vote would get all of the state's electoral votes.

"Very simply, we're playing by a different set of rules as the rest of the country, or at the very least 48 other states. And I'd like to see us become relevant again. In a very close presidential campaign, our five electoral votes become very, very valuable," said Senator McCoy.

McCoy says the current system is holding Nebraska back from having full political influence, but Democratic Party Chairman Vic Covalt says the unique system is the only reason the state was such a hot topic during the 2008 presidential campaign.

"It certainly brought us attention, otherwise we would've been ignored. If we do a winner take all, we go back to the bottom of the list. And before this, the last presidential candidate to come to Nebraska was Gary Hart in 1976," said Covalt.

Covalt says the motivation behind the bill is retaliation for the one electoral vote Obama stole in 2008. But Republican Party Chairman Mark Fahleson says the legislation isn't new.

"The democrats are yelling loudly about this, because they're the ones who snuck this provision in, this was a very partisan provision that they inserted, again State Senator DiAnna Schimek, a former paid Democratic employee, is the one who snuck this provision in," Fahleson said.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Political Professor John Hibbing says he's not sure of the conservative argument for increased influence, and says a split vote allows more Nebraskans to be represented.

"I think it's kind of a fairness issue in how you perceive units in politics," Hibbing said. "I'm not quite sure what advantage that they might be referring to, but certainly in terms of economics, national attention, the advantage would turn toward having the district by district approach."