If you’re tired of the way the Electoral College distorts our presidential elections, here’s a solution that doesn’t require a constitutional amendment and that offers a chance for state-based activism.
States are allowed to choose the way their electoral votes are apportioned. Under the National Popular Vote system, state legislators would pass a law giving all of the state’s electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote. It’s similar to the winner-take-all systems used in most states, but the winner would not be the biggest vote-getter in one particular state. Instead, it would be the biggest vote-getter nationwide. Eleven states have enacted this system so far, but it only goes into effect if enough states sign up to represent an Electoral College win (270 votes in all).
By the way, there are other, more fine-grained systems for distributing Electoral College votes that apportion winners by congressional districts. Just about anything would be better than what we have now.
Bill Poorman 