Now that the presidential race has been decided, we should re-examine the way that this particular contest is conducted in our country.
The Electoral College system that we use is clearly out of date and not equitable to all Americans. It may have been appropriate in our nation’s early days, but now it is unfair and should be changed.
California, our most populous state, has approximately 38 million people and 55 electoral votes. That means that there are about 690,000 people per elector in that state. Wyoming, our least populated state, has about 580,000 people and three electoral votes. That means that there are about 193,000 people per elector. The other 48 states and Washington, D.C. have varying numbers of residents per electoral vote. The system is not balanced; the votes of people living in less populated states carry more weight than those residents in larger states.
The best way to get around this problem is to have direct election for president. It would encourage candidates to visit all states and to discuss issues in all parts of our country.
No longer would we have the eight or nine so called battleground states that the candidates were vying for in the presidential race in 2012. No longer would candidate and media attention just be focused on those swing states with the rest of the country written off and ignored.
Henry Euler
Bayside
