August 20, 2004

Why winner take all Electoral College votes are a good thing.

Millions of Votes for Bush, Kerry Won't Count: Ann Woolner

Well, it's that time again. Every four years, the same arguments get trotted out about how the winner take electoral ballots somehow disenfranchise those voters who did not vote for the winning candidate. The argument is ludicrous, and actually dangerous for those states that decide to allocate electoral college votes using some form of proportionate means, especially if the state is a small state. Let's take a look at some of them point by point.

Voters who vote for a losing candidate get disenfranchised.

Wrong. They are not disenfranchised, any more than voters who vote for a losing candidate for governor are disenfranchised. Their votes were counted, but they didn't have enough votes to their state. That is not disenfranchisement--that's simply being on the losing side. The Electoral College system was set up to create an election system where presidential candidates would have to address the interests of each and every state, and not each and every person. Proportional, or congressional district allotments weaken that, and, in effect, disenfranchise an entire state, because proportional/congressional representation dilutes the punch of an electoral victory in that state.

Winner Take all is unfair

Unfair for who? As a resident of a small state, winner take all is the only method in which a small state can make a difference in a contested election. If Connecticut went to a system other than winner take all, our importance in electoral politics would be nil. Why should either Bush or Kerry try and win here when they could just win a few extra conservative/liberal districts in California or Texas? They would spend all their time campaigning in larger states where their campaign dollar will be more effective, and they can make more campaign stops in denser populated areas. Presidential candidates would be as common in Montana, Wyoming, and Iowa as the collected works of Robert Mapplethorpe would be on the 700 Club.

Nebraska and Maine do it, why shouldn't we?

If Nebraska and Maine jumped off of a bridge, would you jump too? Those two states have electorally castrated themselves. Because they use congressional representation, instead of having 5 and 4 electoral votes, they've really turned themselves into having two electoral votes each. Statewide influence in both states has been weakened considerably in the presidential election.

Why not dump the electoral college entirely?

This would be perfect--if you want the section of the nation represented by everything east of the Sierra Nevada, South of the Mason Dixon Line, and north of Talahassee to be completely ignored. If the electoral college was dumped, only major metropolitan areas would get any decent attention from the presidential candidates. Think environmental and land use regulations out west are bad now? Imagine if every president for the past 100 years had to pander to Central Park environmentalists. Think as an Alaskan, you would like to continue drilling for oil there? Fat chance. Your few hundred thousand voters wouldn't amount to a hill of beans in a popular vote. Enjoy permanent second-class citizen status for your state.

Every four years, these same arguments come up about the Electoral College, and every four years, the arguments stunk just as bad then as they do now. If the goal is to turn the president into a prime minister, institute proportional electoral votes, or just make it a popular election. But don't be surprised if, when that happens future presidents facilitate congressional excesses, instead of blocking them.

Posted by John Bono at August 20, 2004 03:14 AM| Link Cosmos

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