7.24.2006

Voting Fix

Yes, I could be doing extra work today instead of blogging, but after last week's run of burnout-inducing long days, I'm taking a bit of a breather now and then.

Finally, a "voting fix" that doesn't involve voter fraud in Florida. Or Ohio.

Stanford University professor John Koza, inventor of the scratch-off lottery ticket, has developed a plan to fix our electoral college system. And it's simple, too, just like the lottery ticket. The idea is to create a coalition of states that will throw their electoral votes to whichever candidate wins the national popular vote, regardless of which candidate wins in their particular state.

The plan doesn't require all 50 states to join, but a combination of states that represent a majority (at least 270) of the electoral votes. If the largest states join in the agreement, only 11 would be needed.

Supporters say the proposal would avoid such controversial results as the 2000 presidential election when Republican George W. Bush was declared the winner despite losing the popular vote to Al Gore, a Democrat.
...
However, getting rid of the Electoral College by amending the U.S. Constitution would not be an easy task. It requires a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress as well as acceptance by three-fourths of the states.

So, rather than eliminating the Electoral College system, Koza is proposing to use two provisions in the Constitution to circumvent the system: interstate compacts and the states' power to decide how they award their electoral votes.

Apparently lawmakers in several states are trying to make this thing go, and in some states, the idea even has bi-partisan support. I'm all for it.

posted by brian at 3:45 PM | Permalink

1 Comment(s) - Click to View/Hide

That sounds like a great idea. Though, if implemented, and a graph in the traditional sense of the states electoral decision is drawn, one would find that there "red" and "blue" states would not apply. Also, can we please not let Iowa decide who the candidates are? Too much corn can make one lucid. comment by  nick, 7/25/2006 7:48 AM