Possible Compromise on Electoral College

Aug 7, 2012
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A Possible Compromise on the Electoral College

Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) has proposed amending the Constitution to give the winner 29 extra electoral votes. The figure 29 seems arbitrary. Israel no doubt picked it because his state has 29 EVs and many of his constituents spend the winter in Florida, which also has 29 EVs. A reader made a much better suggestion. Give the winner of the popular vote one extra EV for each, say, 50,000 votes of margin. So if candidate A beats candidate B by 700,000 votes, he gets 14 extra electoral votes. That would cause candidates to campaign in Los Angeles, Dallas, Spokane, and a lot of other places they currently never visit because their states don't swing. Such a rule would make elections truly national, rather than being confined to at most a dozen states
.

Good idea?
 
A Possible Compromise on the Electoral College

Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) has proposed amending the Constitution to give the winner 29 extra electoral votes. The figure 29 seems arbitrary. Israel no doubt picked it because his state has 29 EVs and many of his constituents spend the winter in Florida, which also has 29 EVs. A reader made a much better suggestion. Give the winner of the popular vote one extra EV for each, say, 50,000 votes of margin. So if candidate A beats candidate B by 700,000 votes, he gets 14 extra electoral votes. That would cause candidates to campaign in Los Angeles, Dallas, Spokane, and a lot of other places they currently never visit because their states don't swing. Such a rule would make elections truly national, rather than being confined to at most a dozen states
.

Good idea?

Certainly not the worst idea I've ever heard. I don't like the gimmick of X number of votes = Y number of EVs.

I think making the POTUS elect win both the EV as well as the Popular vote is preferable.
 

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