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Elect president by popular vote

Electoral College elector Brian Fairbrother looks through mail he has received in Shelby Township, Mich., on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016. And you thought Election Day was in November. Electors are gathering in every state Monday to formally elect Donald Trump president even as anti-Trump forces try one last time to deny him the White House. Republican electors say they have been deluged with emails, phone calls and letters urging them not to support Trump. Many of the emails are part of coordinated campaigns.
Electoral College elector Brian Fairbrother looks through mail he has received in Shelby Township, Mich., on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016. And you thought Election Day was in November. Electors are gathering in every state Monday to formally elect Donald Trump president even as anti-Trump forces try one last time to deny him the White House. Republican electors say they have been deluged with emails, phone calls and letters urging them not to support Trump. Many of the emails are part of coordinated campaigns. Mike Householder AP

The Electoral College has 538 electors, one for each member in the House of Representatives (435), one for each senator (100) and three for Washington, D.C.

But since each state has two senators, regardless of population, it gives an advantage to voters in small states. And since 48 states and D.C. use the “winner take all” system, giving all of their state’s Electoral College votes to the winner in that state and zero to the loser (including third-party candidates), this can result in a president winning the election who did not have the most popular votes.

This has happened five times, including Bush (2000) and Trump (2016). In a democracy, everyone’s vote should count the same, but with the Electoral College, votes in small states are worth more than votes in large states.

Popular votes in 2016 for one Electoral College vote: Trump, Alaska (46,000), Wyoming (58,000), Florida (159,000); Clinton, Vermont (60,000), New Hampshire (87,000), California (159,000). This is not how democracy should work. We should pass an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to abolish the Electoral College and elect our president based on who gets the most popular votes in the entire country.

Total popular votes 2016: Trump, 63 million (46 percent); Clinton, 66 million (48 percent) (2.9 million more than Trump). Total Electoral College votes 2016: Trump, 306; Clinton 232 (not counting changes from “faithless” electors.)

Steve Scott

Sarasota

This story was originally published December 28, 2016 at 4:38 PM with the headline "Elect president by popular vote."

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