Chuck Darwin<p>Every four years, Americans endure an absurd method of selecting our president that is so counterintuitive and unappealing that no other country follows our model. </p><p>Rather than electing our chief executive by popular vote<br>—the way we choose virtually every other federal, state, and local elected official in the country<br>—the <a href="https://c.im/tags/Electoral" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Electoral</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/College" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>College</span></a> chooses our president. </p><p>Americans still vote for their preferred candidate on the ballot, but the candidate with the most votes does not necessarily become president.</p><p>The litany of problems caused by the Electoral College are obvious.</p><p>Five times, the candidate who won the popular vote did not win the Electoral College.</p><p>Most recently, in 2016, Trump beat Hillary Clinton even though she received nearly 2.9 million more votes.</p><p>In 2020, Americans narrowly avoided an even more undemocratic outcome.</p><p>Joe Biden resoundingly defeated Trump by over 7 million votes nationwide but only squeaked by in the Electoral College due to 115,012 votes across Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Georgia. <br>Rather than give every voter equal weight, the Electoral College <br>💥distorts the voting power of Americans based on where they live. 💥</p><p>The importance of votes in <a href="https://c.im/tags/swing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>swing</span></a> states like Wisconsin, Nevada, or Georgia is wildly enhanced, <br>while the value of votes in <a href="https://c.im/tags/safe" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>safe</span></a> states like Oklahoma or Vermont is artificially diminished.</p><p>No wonder seven swing states dominate the discourse: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, and North Carolina. </p><p>The Trump and Harris campaigns will court these voters like they’re the prettiest girl at the dance. -- Their campaigns will not waste resources in safe states like Idaho or Maryland. </p><p>Of course, voters in swing states are no more intelligent, decent, or deserving of influence than voters in safe states. </p><p>The distortion is simply the unfair, arbitrary consequence of a poorly designed system and proof that the Electoral College<br>—which also puts the thumb on the scale for low-population states, thanks to the U.S. Senate<br>—has outlived its usefulness. </p><p>Voters in safe states seem to understand that their presidential vote matters little. </p><p>On average, safe states have lower voter turnout than swing states.</p><p>Despite its flaws, the Electoral College has supporters, who are almost always Republicans. </p><p>Since a Republican presidential candidate has only won the national popular vote once in the past 32 years (George W. Bush in 2004), <br>the GOP has a strong incentive to keep the Electoral College. </p><p>That explains the oft-repeated, feeble arguments that the status quo prevents small states from being ignored. </p><p>Or that a system that weighs votes equally would somehow “silence” rural voters. </p><p>Or that the Electoral College stops “New York and California from imposing their will on the rest of the country.”</p><p>I’ve addressed most of those claims before. </p><p>-- And the Electoral College’s defenders can never explain why, if it’s such a great system, no other state or country has copied it. </p><p>Most Americans understand that the Electoral College is fundamentally flawed.</p><p>That’s why a majority have supported the national popular vote for decades, <br>and 65 percent are supportive today.</p><p>“Whoever gets the most votes wins” is as fair as it gets. </p><p>❓So how, despite Republicans’ self-interested obstinance, can the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact cross the finish line?</p><p>When Minnesota joined the Compact under Tim Walz’s leadership, it broke a four-year drought.</p><p>Five states joined the Compact in 2018 and 2019, but none did until Minnesota in 2023.</p><p>✅ But with Minnesota and, more recently, Maine bringing the Compact within just 61 electoral votes of success, there is a path to 270 within the next four years.</p><p>The Compact has passed through both house committees in Michigan.</p><p>If it is signed into law, it will add another 15 electoral votes to the Compact’s ranks.</p><p>Compact legislation has also made progress in Virginia and Nevada, which would add another 29 electoral votes ❇️ and leave just 27 to go.</p><p>⭐️At that point, some combination of three purple states like Wisconsin, North Carolina & Arizona would be enough to surpass 270.</p><p>Either electoral outcome this autumn could give the Compact the final boost it needs.</p><p>If Trump wins, he will most likely do it while losing the popular vote,<br>-- which would motivate even more Americans to push for the Compact.</p><p>If Harris wins, Walz could become a key advocate for the Compact -- speaking to governors and legislators in states that have yet to join.</p><p>Regardless of how the 2024 election goes, the <a href="https://c.im/tags/National" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>National</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Popular" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Popular</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Vote" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Vote</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Interstate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Interstate</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Compact" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Compact</span></a> offers hope that in the not-too-distant future, <br>vice presidential nominees may be chosen based on their qualifications rather than their swing-state appeal. </p><p>And Americans may finally have a system in which the candidate who wins the most votes always wins the presidency. 👍<br><a href="https://washingtonmonthly.com/2024/08/30/tim-walz-took-a-big-step-toward-scrapping-the-electoral-college/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">washingtonmonthly.com/2024/08/</span><span class="invisible">30/tim-walz-took-a-big-step-toward-scrapping-the-electoral-college/</span></a></p>