Thursday, November 8, 2012

the Electoral College in US presidential elections should go

It is really only stating the obvious and what has been said before many times.  Yesterday's poll results show the distortions that result from the "winner take all" approach in each state's allocated electoral votes.  Obama got 50% of the popular vote to Romney's 48% (although that's a difference of over 3 million votes) but got 56% of the electoral votes, possibly 62% depending on whether the Florida result is confirmed.  It is theoretically possible and has happened, notably in 2000, that a candidate can win the popular vote, but lose in the Electoral College.

The other distortion is that marginal or swing states receive all the attention, not only during the campaign, but while in office, while the "safe" states for either candidate are all but ignored except as effectively ATMs for fundraising.  

The problems are familiar to NZers and the reason they ditched the old "First Past the Post" system of electing parliament in the referendum held in 1993, endorsed in last year's referendum.

With the whole country as one combined constituency, every vote would be of equal importance.

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