Electoral change would be long in coming

Currently under the U.S. Constitution, as most of us know, the decision on presidential elections is not relegated to “we the people “ but rather “we the Electoral College.” This band of almost nameless people who are selected by their states, have one job every four years: to cast their states votes as they have been instructed by state law. In general this means all or nothing. The two exceptions, Maine and Nebraska, allocate the electoral votes either based upon percent of popular vote or by individual representative districts with the two additional per state to the majority winner.

There have been many attempts at revising the Constitution; however, little success has ever been made. The biggest reason is the infringement on states’ rights. However, Maine does seem to have a reasonable compromise. We do have a representative form of government, and by selecting a representative in each congressional district nationally, with the winner in each state getting the two additional electoral votes, it would not only be more consistent with our distribution of citizens, but would provide an incentive for people to vote. Each vote would actually mean something in a presidential election.

Ultimately the electoral vote would more clearly represent the people’s vote. The problem is, it will take either a constitutional amendment, or every state would need to modify their own constitutions. I guess this won’t happen in my lifetime; lets put a pin in it for the future.

Richard Francke

Bartlett