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« Putting the debate to rest | Main | Two bad moves »
October 29, 2004
Electoral College Reform
You can bet your ass there will be legal challenges in several "swing states" this year. Oh God.
How can we stop this madness?
End the winner take all system: allow states to allocate electoral college votes based on the percentage vote each candidate gets within that state. One reason why Florida was worth disputing in 2000 was its 25 electoral votes. Under these proposed changes, Bush and Gore would have each taken 12 or 13 votes, which means that the payoff in mounting a legal challenge would have been much lower. Furthermore, it would be much harder to challenge every outcome in every state/county/precinct. Glasstrack has a good discussion of the Electoral College, fair representation, etc., but I think that this practical argument for changing our system--stopping the post-election legal battles--will probably resonate strongly with a majority of Americans, regardless of party or state.
This type of reform would also open the door to third parties becoming more viable. You need 270 to win, and third parties can promote their issues by exchanging electoral votes for planks in the platform.
Posted by glyphic at October 29, 2004 11:55 AM