Letter to the editor: Outdated Electoral College should yield to popular vote
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The Legislature is considering An Act to Adopt the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. The proposal commits each state to cast its electoral votes for the winner of the national popular vote. As soon as states controlling 270 electoral votes join, the compact goes into effect.
Electors are allocated according to each state’s representation in Congress: the number of House members (based on population) plus the number of senators (two). Maine, with two members of the House and two senators, gets four electors. California, with 53 members of the House and two senators, gets 45. (California has 39.6 million residents; Maine has 1.35 million.) In fact, the 21 least populated states collectively account for 37 million people – still short of California. But each of those states has two senators, giving those 37 million people 92 electoral votes. So, for example, a Mainer’s vote is worth 2.13
The reactions to my column last week, titled with the question “Is It Time for Conservatives to Support A National Popular Vote?”, was basically a resounding, “HELL NO! It is NOT time for conservatives to support a national popular vote, there will NEVER BE a time for conservatives to support a national popular vote, and you are an IDIOT for even bringing it up! Now, go back to the Democrat-infested hellhole you crawled out of!” Or something along those lines.
To be fair, it wasn’t unexpected, and I completely understand. When I first encountered a case for the issue coming from a conservative (incidentally, from Townhall Senior Editor Matt Vespa’s neutral analysis of the issue in 2017, well before I started writing for the site), I had a knee-jerk reaction as well, and I would have completely agreed with most of the comments made last week. I too had always firmly believed in the ‘firewall’ theory, that the current system, as the ‘Founders intended,’ kept places
Without change, a plan for a national popular vote could undermine the presidency thehill.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thehill.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
âTo get congratulations from all these people, teachers, family, friends . it feels great to be recognized in such a way,â said William Taggard, a junior at Brattleboro Union High School, who took first place, writing about changing the countryâs presidential election process.
âOur democracy has been under unprecedented pressure in recent months, culminating in the insurrection in our nationâs capital,â wrote Taggard. âFortunately, democracy and truth have prevailed. However, our current system leaves ample room for improvement: namely the Electoral College. We need to review the merits of the Electoral College and determine how best to protect our democratic process.â