By DR. LARRY MOSES
No one asked me but… I have a young man who mows my lawn. After completing his tasks, he often quizzes me on various political topics of the day. It is refreshing to see a bright young American displaying a knowledge of, and interest in, the issues confronting Americans today.
The other day he asked me what I thought of “ranked choice voting” which is being championed in various states. Attempting to hide my ignorance of the process, I did what any good ex-social studies teacher would do, I had him explain it to me.
I then diverted him to my pet reformation of the presidential election system by splitting a state’s electoral vote based on proportion of the vote received by each candidate.
After finishing our discussion, I went to my computer to research “ranked choice voting.”
According to Google, here is a quick explanation of the process: “Rather than picking just one candidate, the voters get to rank several in order of preference. If one candidate is the first choice of a majority of voters – more than 50%- he is elected just like a traditional election. If no one hits that mark, the ranked choice kicks in. Vote tabulation is done in rounds. In each round, the candidate in last place is eliminated. Votes cast for the eliminated candidate are then distributed to those voter’s second choice.
This process continues until only two candidates are left and the one with the majority of votes wins.”
Those who support this method say it makes it difficult for someone to get elected without broad support, and it is not likely that someone with fringe political views will be elected. Party affiliation, while still important, will be somewhat diluted.
If “ranked choice’ is used in a primary, the “crown prince” of the party elite is less likely to survive the primary process. Therefore, the parties elite will not have a greater effect on the outcome of the election than an average party member.
“Ranked choice” can be hard to understand and as it moves through its various rounds, transparency and trust becomes an issue. The redistributing of votes is done by computer. While this speeds up the process, people are becoming leery of the reliability and security of computer programs.
There are those who are clamoring for direct election of the president and the destruction of the electoral college system instituted by the Article II Section 1 of the Constitution.
This is not a new idea. As early as 1823, James Madison attacked the electoral college system. “The present rule of voting for President…is so great a departure from the Republican principle of numerical equality…and is so pregnant also with a mischievous tendency in practice, that an amendment of the Constitution on this point is justly called for…”
The American people do not vote for a President. They vote to give their proxy to an individual who votes for them. The elector is not bound by law to vote as directed. They are free to vote their conscience, or as it has evolved today, the conscience of the party of their affiliation. In a true popular vote, there would be no electoral college. This, however, would require an amendment to the Constitution.
The Constitution outlines requirements for the president. It also establishes the electoral procedure including a group of electors. It limits who can fill the role of electors. However, the Constitution does not dictate how the states choose those electors.
The election reform, short of a Constitutional Amendment eliminating the Electoral College, that I would find most acceptable is proportionality. One would determine what portion of the voters in the state voted for each candidate and that candidate would receive that portion of the electoral votes from that state. Thus, if a state has ten electoral votes and a candidate receives 60 percent of the vote, he would receive six electoral votes.
Had that process been in effect for the 2020 election Joe Biden would have received 272 electoral votes and Donald Trump would have received 258. In the winner take all scenario of present day election process, Biden received 306 electoral votes and Trump received 232.
If we were to go to a popular vote to determine the number of electoral votes each candidate would receive in the 2020 election, Joe Biden, with 51.31 percent of the popular vote, would have won 276 electoral votes. Donald Trump, with 46.86 of the popular vote, would have received 252 electoral votes.
Using a purely popular vote Joe Biden received 81,268,924 and Donald Trump received 74,216,154. Since the third party candidate did not earn a single electoral vote, the 2020 election would not have been changed by “ranked choice.”
The rationale for an electoral college was that the average American in the 19th Century had no way of knowing the qualifications or quality of national leaders. It was prudent to allow the American people to select knowledgeable individuals of their communities to select the President for them. With the advent of political parties, mass media, Facebook, Twitter, etc. the average American is now inundated with information that would allow all Americans to become familiar with those seeking the highest office in the land. This might be a justification for eliminating the Electoral College.
No one asked me but… President Biden delivered what was cast as a get tough on crime speech. It was actually an attack on the Second Amendment rights of all law abiding American citizens. Most disturbing was his repeated veiled threat as he twice stated that the American citizen had no right to own a military style weapon. He based this on the fact that deer do not wear Kevlar vests. He stated citizens with military style weapons would be facing a government with F-115’s and nuclear bombs. Oh, that he should talk so tough to President Putin or President Xi Jinping.
I might remind the President that in 1776, colonial patriots faced the greatest military of the day with squirrel guns and won independence for the American colonies. And while I do not support the Taliban, that is exactly what they have done in Afghanistan. There they have used such tactics to defeat first, the Soviet Union and, as of September 9, 2021, the United States.
Mr. President the Second Amendment has nothing to do with hunting or defense against one’s neighbor. It is about the defense of the American people against an oppressive government.
Thought of the week… “In questions of power, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the constitution.”
― Thomas Jefferson
2 thoughts on “No One Asked Me But… (June 30, 2021)”
Proportional awarding of electors would not be a fair “compromise” or solution.
There are good reasons why no state even proposes, much less chooses, to award their electors proportionally.
In 4 of the 8 elections between 1992 and 2020, the choice of President would have been thrown into the U.S. House (where each state has one vote in electing the President).
Based on the composition of the House at the time, the national popular vote winner would not have been chosen in 3 of those 4 cases, regardless of the popular vote anywhere.
Electors are people. They each have one vote. The result would be a very inexact whole number proportional system.
Every voter in every state would not be politically relevant or equal in presidential elections.
It would not accurately reflect the nationwide popular vote;
It would reduce the influence of any state, if not all states adopted.
It would not improve upon the current situation in which four out of five states and four out of five voters in the United States are ignored by presidential campaigns, but instead, would create a very small set of states in which only one electoral vote is in play (while making most states politically irrelevant),
It would not make every vote equal.
It would not guarantee the Presidency to the candidate with the most popular votes in the country.
The National Popular Vote bill is the way to make every person’s vote equal and matter to their candidate because it guarantees the majority of Electoral College votes to the candidate who gets the most votes among all 50 states and DC.
Dr. Moses,
The popular vote- 1 adult= 1 vote, without the unreliable electoral college, is the best way to elect our President.
There are downsides to any system, and, depending on where you stand politically, the downside might be that your candidate won’t be elected in a fair, popular vote race.
Simplicity in elections appeals to the average American voter. I can’t count how many times I’ve had to explain the E.C. to adults, and they mistrust that system. They feel that it’s shady. People have told me they don’t know why they should bother voting if “My vote doesn’t even count.”
Again, this is how they Feel about it- and in general, Americans act on their feelings. Our people aren’t particularly sophisticated or well-read or well traveled. For such a wealthy nation, we have millions who can’t find the U.S. on a globe. It’s shameful.
I’m not bashing the U.S.A.- I love this place. Especially after growing up on USAF bases overseas. But facts are facts, we need to up our game.
I’ll stop here, but I may return to chime in on the 2nd Amendment issue you raised.