Our view: This archaic institution can make losers president and disenfranchises many voters
Yesterday in Annapolis, 10 electors representing Maryland in the Electoral College cast their ballots for Barack Obama.
The Electoral College is an institution enshrined in the Constitution.
It also is an archaic threat to our democracy because the system
disenfranchises many voters and sometimes results in the candidate who
wins the most votes losing the presidency. Just ask Al Gore; he won the popular vote but lost the White House because his electoral vote tally fell short.
In many states, the Electoral College discourages potential voters who know the candidate they favor is likely to lose in a winner-take-all state election. And it favors small states because votes are based on the number of senators and representatives a state has, not its population.
Maryland is on record supporting the end of the Electoral College. Gov. Martin O'Malleysigned a law last year that would award Maryland's electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote regardless of who wins in this state. But that law only takes effect if states with more than half the electoral votes (270) join the challenge. Three other states - New Jersey, Illinois and Hawaii - have since passed similar legislation.
Polls show a solid majority of Americans favor dumping the Electoral College. President-elect Obama crafted a victory strategy that sidestepped the power of the largest states in the Electoral College. Americans should recognize that the Electoral College is outdated and lobby their state lawmakers to adopt laws similar to Maryland's. As more states follow Maryland's lead, support for a constitutional amendment to abolish the current system should grow. That would be the right way to retire the Electoral College.
In many states, the Electoral College discourages potential voters who know the candidate they favor is likely to lose in a winner-take-all state election. And it favors small states because votes are based on the number of senators and representatives a state has, not its population.
Maryland is on record supporting the end of the Electoral College. Gov. Martin O'Malleysigned a law last year that would award Maryland's electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote regardless of who wins in this state. But that law only takes effect if states with more than half the electoral votes (270) join the challenge. Three other states - New Jersey, Illinois and Hawaii - have since passed similar legislation.
Polls show a solid majority of Americans favor dumping the Electoral College. President-elect Obama crafted a victory strategy that sidestepped the power of the largest states in the Electoral College. Americans should recognize that the Electoral College is outdated and lobby their state lawmakers to adopt laws similar to Maryland's. As more states follow Maryland's lead, support for a constitutional amendment to abolish the current system should grow. That would be the right way to retire the Electoral College.
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.