On December 1, 2016

Making votes count with the Electoral College

Dear Editor,
The framers of the US Constitution created the Electoral College as a result of a compromise for the presidential election process.  During the debate, some delegates felt that a direct popular election would lead to the election of each state’s favorite son and none would emerge with sufficient popular majority to govern the country.  Other delegates felt that giving Congress the power to select the president would deny the people their right to choose.  After all, the people voted for their representatives to the federal legislature.  The compromise was to set up an Electoral College system that allowed voters to vote for electors, who would then cast their votes for candidates, a system described in Article II, section 1 of the Constitution.
Each state is allocated a number of electors equal to the number of its U.S. senators (always two) plus the number of its U.S. representatives (which may change each decade according to the size of a state’s population as determined in the Census).
Whichever party slate wins the most popular votes in the state becomes that state’s electors—so that, in effect, whichever presidential ticket gets the most popular votes in a state wins all the electors of that state.
The debate has started again as to whether the US Constitution should be amended in order to change the presidential election process.  Some promote eliminating the Electoral College in favor of a direct popular vote for president while others believe the Electoral College should remain unchanged.  Just as compromise solved the initial problems of the framers so it is that compromise can solve this problem.  The solution is to change the electoral votes to electoral points and reward each candidate a percentage of points based on the percentage of popular votes received in each state.
This would eliminate the “winner take all” system thus allowing for all the votes to count.  A voter is more apt to believe their vote counted when a percentage of popular votes is taken into account rather than the “all or nothing” system currently in existence.  Further, this new system would integrate the desire for a popular vote for president with the need for the individual states to determine who actually gets elected.
As for political primaries the number of delegates awarded in each state should be determined by the percentage of votes won by each candidate.
For 2016 multiplying the percentage of votes each candidate received (in each state) times the number of electoral votes (in each state) results in the following: Clinton 256.985 and Trump 253.482.
Joe Bialek, Cleveland, Ohio

Do you want to submit feedback to the editor?

Send Us An Email!

Related Posts

Please be mindful of antisemitism in political messages

June 4, 2025
Dear Editor, The Anti-Defamation League’s 2024 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents reports a deeply troubling rise in antisemitism across the country, including and especially here in Vermont. We know that many people in our community are passionate about political issues, including those related to Israel and Palestine. The local Jewish community asks that, especially in this…

Education cuts hurt the economy, won’t lower taxes

June 4, 2025
Dear Editor, The debate over H.454 might seem irrelevant to Vermonters without children in school. Still, its impact stretches far beyond education—it threatens our economy, property values, and long-term tax stability. Although school consolidation and cost containment may appear fiscally responsible, both the Senate’s and the governor’s proposals provide only short-term budgetary solutions rather than…

Congrats, new board members

June 4, 2025
Dear Editor, I want to extend my sincere congratulations to Bill Vines and Jay Hickory on their election to the Killington Select Board. Their longstanding ties to our community and steady approach clearly resonated with voters. I wish them both success as they begin their terms on the expanded board. Although I was not elected,…

Oppose the Senate Conferee proposed changes to H.454

June 4, 2025
Dear Editor, Editor’s note: This letter was originally posted by the office of the Mountain Views School District Superintendent on Saturday, May 31. It is the second letter to the school community Superintendent Sherry Sousa has sent regarding H.454, the education funding reform bill. I’m again turning to you to become involved with the education…