Letters: Popular vote a losing proposition

In 1787 delegates of the 13 American colonies met in Philadelphia and wrote a new constitution.

The primary issue of contention in creating this document was the representation of the large states and the small states in the new government.

The small states were opposed to a Congress and president selected strictly on the basis of the popular vote.

The compromise reached on this issue allowed for a House of Representatives elected on the basis of population and a Senate with two members from each state.

The president would be chosen by electors from each state.

The number of electors was the sum of the number of representatives and the number of senators.

The electoral system thus gives a slight advantage to small states.

The proposal to start electing the president based only on the popular vote would sacrifice that advantage, so that large states like New York and California would have more impact in a presidential election.

Small states like Louisiana would see their already minor influence diminished.

Unless you favor letting the larger states in the country control the selection of the president, switching to a process based on the popular vote is a losing proposition for Louisiana.

Robert Bradley

IT systems programmer (retired)

Baton Rouge

Comments

1) Comment by Attila - 14/05/2012

Think about it this way. The only clout the small states have is to support the same candidate. To offset the votes of states like Calif, NY, MI, PA, MN, and the rest of the true blue states, the smaller states by voting as in a bloc can be heard in the electoral vote. As the country becomes more a country of what can my country do for me, going to proportional electoral votes will be the death knell of the country. This is nothing more than an attempt at an end run around the constitution. Our legislature does not get many things right. I congratulate them on getting this one right.

2) Comment by DMJ - 14/05/2012

I think a popular vote for President would be better. Think about it....40% of Louisianians voted for Barack Obama in 2008. With the electoral college, those votes don't mean anything. In California, how many millions voted for John McCain? Those votes also didn't count. Louisiana is small, true. But changing from the electoral college system to a popular vote system wouldn't increase its influence at all.

3) Comment by SuzanneMS - 12/05/2012

I don't mean assign the votes proportionately to the states, Attila. I mean that each state would award its electoral votes to the candidates based on the proportion of the popular vote that each candidate received. Right now, it's "winner take all" in 48 states, which means that only 51% of the voters (who vote) are determining that state's electoral votes. The other 49% might as well have stayed home -- and they do. However, it really doesn't matter what method is used -- Louisiana will still be at the bottom of the list, along with the other small states. Certainly a lot of people don't understand the purpose of the electoral college, but I think that it's more the feeling that "my vote didn't count," when their candidate doesn't receive even a single electoral vote from their state.

4) Comment by InPVille - 12/05/2012

Yes. The founders tried to achieve a balance between the interests large and small states and tried to find remedies for what they saw as fatal flaws in the pure democracies of the past. BigHug: If there is no general understanding of this by the people, it probably isn't covered in the public schools any longer.

5) Comment by Attila - 12/05/2012

Suzanne, the thing that most people for this cockamamie idea seem to keep overlooking is that the STATES elect the president...not the individual voters. The system of electors was set up so that the exact thing that the popular vote proponents want will not happen. If you want the states with large cities to elect every President from now on the thing to do would be to proportion the electoral votes.

6) Comment by SuzanneMS - 12/05/2012

The one change that might have a positive impact would be allocating the electoral votes proportionally, but it might be a wash.

7) Comment by Bighug - 12/05/2012

It is amazing how many citizens don't understand that. As important as our US Constitution is, everyone should know its contents and the reasons for them. The information in Mr. Bradley's letter should be as obvious as stating "Tigers is the name of LSU athletic teams," but unfortunately most people will be learning this about the Constitution for the first time. And these people vote!