Call to lessen Electoral College�s role renewedWith less than a month to go before the November presidential election, legislators have renewed their calls for changes to the Electoral College system, saying it’s the best way to increase Rhode Island’s relevance in the campaign process.
Since the end of the primary season this spring, neither presidential candidate has visited the Ocean State.
“Just a couple of states to our north, the campaigns are showering unprecedented attention on New Hampshire’s electorate,” Sen. Daniel Connors, D-Cumberland, said in a statement. “... A vote in Rhode Island should be worth as much as a vote in a swing state. In a democracy like ours, every vote should be equal.”
In just one week this month, Senators Barack Obama and John McCain spent a total of $514,000 on television ads in New Hampshire, according to figures from FairVote Rhode Island. During the same period, they spent nothing in Rhode Island.
Rep. Donald Lally Jr., D-Narragansett, said the state deserves more attention — and more respect — on the national stage.
This spring, Lally and Connors sponsored legislation that would have allowed Rhode Island, with four electoral votes, to join a national compact of states that commit their electoral delegates to the winner of the national popular vote, regardless of who carries each state. The measure would kick in only if states representing a majority of the nation’s 538 electoral votes decide to make the same change.
The bill was passed by the General Assembly, but was vetoed by Governor Carcieri.
Election Day '09 was a roller-coaster for election reformers. Instant runoff voting had a great night in Minnesota, where St. Paul voters chose to implement IRV for its city elections, and Minneapolis voters used IRV for the first time—with local media touting it as a big success. As the Star-Tribune noted in endorsing IRV for St. Paul, Tuesday’s elections give the Twin Cities a chance to show the whole state of Minnesota the benefits of adopting IRV. There were disappointments in Lowell and Pierce County too, but high-profile multi-candidate races in New Jersey and New York keep policymakers focused on ways to reform elections; the Baltimore Sun and Miami Herald were among many newspapers publishing commentary from FairVote board member and former presidential candidate John Anderson on how IRV can mitigate the problems of plurality elections.