A Modest Suggestion for the Electoral College
U. S. Constitution, article II, section 1:
We are never going to do away with the Electoral College, because it benefits Republicans too much for them ever to allow that. In fact, we are never going to see it change, for the same reason, but here is a sample of how unfair things are now: Wyoming, a terminally Republican State, gets one elector for every 195,000 people. Alaska gets one elector for every 246,000 people; North Dakota gets one for every 252,000.
At the other end of the spectrum, California, a strongly blue State, gets one elector for every 711,000 people; New York one for every 683,000.
I know that most of you are aware that the electoral college system favors small States that are largely Republican, but I bet you are surprised at how extreme this favoritism is. In small, largely Republican States, a voter counts for three times what one does in large States.
The result of this is that the last two Republican Presidents have been placed into office despite having received a minority of the nation's votes. I don't count the rigged re-election of Bush II, so there has not been a legitimately elected Republican President in this country since 1988. This is an intolerably situation, which could be corrected simply by amending the Constitution to make the apportioning of electors proportional to the States' populations. This would require expanding the number of electors, at present to about 1600; otherwise, Wyoming would get no votes at all. In fact, as things currently stand, it would require a population of close to 600,000 for a State to earn even one electoral vote. An alternative might be to combine some States of small population into single electoral units. The three States listed above, Wyoming, Alaska and North Dakota, would under this system get one electoral vote among them, instead of the nine they now get.
Well, like so many fair things, it ain't going to happen, but I'm just saying...
"Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress..."
We are never going to do away with the Electoral College, because it benefits Republicans too much for them ever to allow that. In fact, we are never going to see it change, for the same reason, but here is a sample of how unfair things are now: Wyoming, a terminally Republican State, gets one elector for every 195,000 people. Alaska gets one elector for every 246,000 people; North Dakota gets one for every 252,000.
At the other end of the spectrum, California, a strongly blue State, gets one elector for every 711,000 people; New York one for every 683,000.
I know that most of you are aware that the electoral college system favors small States that are largely Republican, but I bet you are surprised at how extreme this favoritism is. In small, largely Republican States, a voter counts for three times what one does in large States.
The result of this is that the last two Republican Presidents have been placed into office despite having received a minority of the nation's votes. I don't count the rigged re-election of Bush II, so there has not been a legitimately elected Republican President in this country since 1988. This is an intolerably situation, which could be corrected simply by amending the Constitution to make the apportioning of electors proportional to the States' populations. This would require expanding the number of electors, at present to about 1600; otherwise, Wyoming would get no votes at all. In fact, as things currently stand, it would require a population of close to 600,000 for a State to earn even one electoral vote. An alternative might be to combine some States of small population into single electoral units. The three States listed above, Wyoming, Alaska and North Dakota, would under this system get one electoral vote among them, instead of the nine they now get.
Well, like so many fair things, it ain't going to happen, but I'm just saying...
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If we fight, we might not win. If we despair and give up, we definitely won't win.
"All Americans are equal, but some Americans are more equal than others."