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

Before school budget talks turn to slashing expenses

November 20, 2024
By Angelo Lynn Editor’s note: Angelo Lynn is the owner and publisher of the Addison Independent, a sister paper of the Mountain Times.  With 2024-25 education property tax rate hikes well into double digits last year, it’s little doubt school boards will be primed for holding costs to a minimum for their upcoming budgets. Already…

Keep pets safe this trapping season

November 20, 2024
Dear Editor, The recreational trapping season in Vermont begins on the fourth Saturday of October each year and lasts through March 31st. For some animals, like otters and beavers, this season lasts for five long months. There are no limits on the number of animals a trapper may kill or on the number of traps…

‘You belong here’

November 20, 2024
Dear Editor, A Latin teacher from junior high school once told me that the word “trivia” comes from roots, meaning three roads. The idea was that people would come together where roads meet to exchange small pieces of information — trivia. Here in Vermont, we certainly swap news on street corners, and I’ve had my…

Welcoming new Americans will strengthen Vt’s economy

November 20, 2024
By Mike Pieciak, Vermont State Treasurer As Vermont’s Treasurer, I am committed to growing Vermont’s economy and building a more inclusive future for our state. To keep our economy on a positive track, we must address our demographic challenges and grow our workforce. I regularly hear from employers about the difficulty of finding workers —…