End-Running The Electoral College |
by Phil Schwab |
|
|
Your letter-writer this week (August 28), aside from doing a nice job explaining the Electoral College system, also presented his interesting suggestion of how to rework the Electoral College and its method of determining the winner of US presidential elections.
There’s another interesting proposal to tweak the Electoral College system that was initiated by the state of Maryland a couple of years ago that hasn’t gotten much press. Maryland’s proposal/plan is designed to manipulate the Electoral College system to ensure that the winner of the national popular vote is automatically elected President. Maryland’s idea is to round up enough states whose number of electoral votes, when added together, would equal at least the minimum number of 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. All of the states in the group would agree to award all of their state’s electoral votes to the presidential candidate who won the national popular vote, regardless of how their individual state voted. Thus, the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote would automatically garner the minimum 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the election (including Maryland’s 15).
Obviously, this plan would be wonderful for voters who have long wanted to dump the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote; but it would also probably wreak havoc in states who are a part of the group but whose voters did not support the winner of the popular vote.
Also, the letter-writer, in describing the Electoral College’s “winner take all” system, didn’t mention that Nebraska and Maine award their handful of electoral votes proportionately instead.
Phil Schwab
Williamsville
Artvoice reserves the right to edit letters for content and length. Shorter letters have a better chance at being published in their entirety. Please include your name, hometown, and contact number. Email letters to: editorial@artvoice.com or write to: Artvoice Letters, 810 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14202
Reader Comments
No comments yet!
Leave a Comment:
|
|
Issue Navigation> Issue Index > v7n36: Fall Guide (9/4/08) > Letters to Artvoice > End-Running The Electoral College This Week's Issue • Artvoice Daily • Artvoice TV • Events Calendar • Classifieds |
Subscribe 