12-24-2016, 10:03 PM
There has been a lot of talk about the electoral college after this election, and while I have made my arguments against it altogether, this isn't a thread advocating for that. This is for the way in which states determine their electors. For example, Most states use a winner-take-all approach in which the winner of the plurality vote in the state is awarded all of the state's electors. In Maine and Nebraska (and introduced recently in Virginia) the vote is split between congressional districts. In Virginia, this would mean that 11 of the 13 electors would be based upon the popular vote in each congressional district, and the two remaining would be awarded to the overall popular vote winner for the state.
So what is interesting about this for Virginia is that of our 11 districts, only 3 seat Democrats, yet has gone to the Democrat candidate in the past three presidential elections. We also have Democrats in all three statewide elected positions (including Senators), yet Republican controlled legislatures. It makes this state a very interesting purple state when it comes to things. But, the congressional districts are very predictable in their voting. In my district, for the past three presidential elections, we have had someone from one of the two major party tickets visit. But, the district overall is dependably Republican and so we would have never seen that because what would be the point of stopping by here when they know how the district will go?
The issue with both winner-take-all and using the congressional districts is that it can effectively disenfranchise voters. Someone in my district that leans liberal will lose motivation to go to the polls on election day, and the same could be said for someone conservative leaning in a NoVA district. It would mean that Virginia would no longer be a battleground state.
I've thought that a better idea, not just for Virginia, but all states, may be to choose electors proportionally. Meaning that if your state has 10 electors then for each 10% of the vote, an elector is assigned. This would work well with ranked voting to allow a better distribution when it comes down to the final one or two.
What do you think, if we are going to keep the EC, should we look differently at how we assign electors in our prospective states? Do you think winner-take-all, congressional districts, proportional, or even just the state legislature choosing should be the direction we go?
So what is interesting about this for Virginia is that of our 11 districts, only 3 seat Democrats, yet has gone to the Democrat candidate in the past three presidential elections. We also have Democrats in all three statewide elected positions (including Senators), yet Republican controlled legislatures. It makes this state a very interesting purple state when it comes to things. But, the congressional districts are very predictable in their voting. In my district, for the past three presidential elections, we have had someone from one of the two major party tickets visit. But, the district overall is dependably Republican and so we would have never seen that because what would be the point of stopping by here when they know how the district will go?
The issue with both winner-take-all and using the congressional districts is that it can effectively disenfranchise voters. Someone in my district that leans liberal will lose motivation to go to the polls on election day, and the same could be said for someone conservative leaning in a NoVA district. It would mean that Virginia would no longer be a battleground state.
I've thought that a better idea, not just for Virginia, but all states, may be to choose electors proportionally. Meaning that if your state has 10 electors then for each 10% of the vote, an elector is assigned. This would work well with ranked voting to allow a better distribution when it comes down to the final one or two.
What do you think, if we are going to keep the EC, should we look differently at how we assign electors in our prospective states? Do you think winner-take-all, congressional districts, proportional, or even just the state legislature choosing should be the direction we go?
"A great democracy has got to be progressive, or it will soon cease to be either great or a democracy..." - TR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
