OPINION:
The debate has started again as to whether the Constitution should be amended in order to change the presidential election process. Some promote eliminating the Electoral College in favor of a direct popular vote for president, while others believe the Electoral College should remain unchanged.
Just as compromise solved the initial problems had by the framers, so it is that compromise can solve this problem. The solution is to change the electoral votes to electoral points and reward each candidate a percentage of points based on the percentage of popular votes received in each state.
This would eliminate the winner-take-all system, thus allowing for all the votes to count. A voter is more apt to believe their vote has counted when a percentage of popular votes is taken into account rather than the all-or-nothing system currently in place.
Further, this new system would integrate the desire for a popular vote for president with the need for the individual states to determine who actually gets elected.
For 2020, multiplying the percentage of votes each candidate received in each state by the number of electoral votes in each state results in the following: Biden 267.23 and Trump 252.33. Multiplying the percentage of popular votes each candidate received nationwide by the total number of electoral votes results in the following: Biden 274.92 and Trump 253.40.
JOE BIALEK
Cleveland
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