How noncitizens could swing the election to Obama -- without voting

Looking at how the states might vote in November, there is no scenario in which Mitt Romney benefits from the inclusion of noncitizens in the Electoral College calculation, but there are several in which Obama could gain three to five Electoral College votes, thus deciding a close election.

To play out a few of these scenarios, let’s first assume that each candidate wins states that are competitive but leaning his way. So Michigan and Pennsylvania go to the president, and North Carolina and Arizona go to Romney.

That leaves eight battleground states up for grabs: Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Wisconsin, Colorado, Nevada, Iowa and New Hampshire.Obama begins with a base of 237 Electoral College votes, and Romney comes in at 206.

If the president won Ohio, Wisconsin and Iowa, and Romney took the rest, Obama would prevail by 271 to 267 Electoral College votes. However, if the Electoral College calculation did not include noncitizens, Mitt Romney would win 270 to 268.