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

If Vt wants a future of abundance, we must choose to build

April 23, 2025
By Miro Weinberger Editor’s note: Weinberger is currently the executive chair of Let’s Build Homes. He was raised in Hartland and served as mayor of Burlington from 2012-2024. If you’ve turned on a podcast, watched a late-night show, or scrolled social media in the past month, you’ve probably heard something about “Abundance,” the new book…

Vermont School Board Asso. supports H.454 ed plan

April 23, 2025
Dear Editor, VSBA supports the bill as a more thoughtful and phased approach than Governor Scott’s rushed, five district proposal. Grounded in a more realistic timeline: H.454 is the most grounded and actionable proposal developed during the 2025 session. It acknowledges the operational realities education leaders face every day. The implementation timeline is more manageable…

Vote Bill Vines for Killington Select Board

April 23, 2025
Dear Editor, At the special election on May 28, I am running for the 2-year seat on the Killington Select Board. An incredibly diverse group of people call Killington home; my partner Mary Furlong and I included. After years of renting a ski house, we purchased our first Killington home in 1995. In 1997 we…

The real enemy isn’t fear, it’s how we let it divide us

April 23, 2025
By Stanley McChrystal Editor’s Note: Stanley McChrystal, who is retired from the Army, is the former commander of U.S. and International Security Assistance Forces in Afghanistan and the former commander of Joint Special Operations Command. He is the author of the forthcoming book “On Character: Choices That Define a Life.” This commentary was first published…