Most of us are taught in our civics classes that every vote counts.
But upon closer look, the election of the President of the United States
does not work that way. The President is elected when each state’s electoral
college votes are tallied. The electoral college was devised in
the Constitutional Convention of 1787 as a compromise between those who
proposed a direct popular election of the President and those who wanted to make the office of the President subject
to election by Congress. According to the Oxford University Press dictionary,
“…as originally conceived, members of the Electoral College were expected to be
prominent state worthies impervious to transient public moods.”
Some principles haven’t changed since 1787. But there are many important
changes in the way we practice democracy, that while once controversial now enjoy
universal approval. Giving women the right to vote and abolishing the Poll Tax are
just two examples of changes in the practice of our franchise that, while ‘new’
ideas at some point, are now considered fundamental to our system. The National
Popular Vote bill would establish aninterstate
compact—or agreement—between states that their electors would vote for
whichever candidate wins the nationwide popular vote.
Under the National Popular Vote plan, the
compact would take effect only when similar bills have been enacted by
states which, collectively, have a majority of the electoral votes—i.e. 270 of
the 538 electoral votes.
In the 21st century, it’s time to update a system
that was conceived to give the power of decision-making in the all important
presidential election to “prominent
state worthies” and recognize that each and every voter in a national election
is equal. The president should be elected as a direct result of the popular
vote with no intervening process or protocol, and by passing this simple but
powerful and timely bill, Massachusetts
would help put the country on the path to a healthier democracy.
