Popular vote plan is a better way to go
The following is a Counterpoint:
By Torrey Dixon
I disagree with your editorial (May 20) opposing the National Popular Vote plan recently approved by our state Senate. We know from great experience with gubernatorial elections that campaigns where every vote is equal are far fairer than North Carolina's current system.
There are three particularly serious problems with the "unit rule" method used by North Carolina and most states to allocate electoral votes since the 1830s:
First, a candidate with fewer votes should not defeat a candidate with more votes. Our message to the world about the virtues of democracy is undercut when we fail to honor the principles of majority rule and one person, one vote.
Second, we now have a two-tier democracy where voters in a few states matter and everyone else does not. In 2004, young adults under 30 were fully 36 percent more likely to vote in the 10 closest states than in the rest of the nation.
Third, presidential candidates ignore the views of most people. George W. Bush's campaign never polled a single person in two-thirds of states from August 2002 through the 2004 election. It wasn't worth wasting a dime talking to any North Carolina voter not considering a campaign contribution.
Seven in 10 Americans want a national popular vote, and North Carolina has the power to join with other states to make it happen. The Senate should be applauded for accepting its constitutional responsibility to allocate electoral votes in a way that serves the interests of its people.
The writer lives in Durham and is the director of FairVote North Carolina.
Comments (5)
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The writer lives in Durham? Enough said, they elected Nifong.
Posted on June 2, 2007 6:09 AM
All my voting life I have felt a popular vote should be initiated in any election. I know the principle behind the electoral college but like many things that "used to be", I think the system is corrupt.
What I find odd is that only after the repubs lost last November are any of them now pushing a popular vote. I think this shows desperation within the party itself. What they forget is Al Gore won the popular vote in 2000.
Posted on June 2, 2007 7:18 AM
when all the illegals are granted amnesty, they'll do all they can to get their one man in there. god bless the electoral college...
Posted on June 2, 2007 7:48 AM
Yvonne, according to another letter to the News-Record, all Republicans voted AGAINST this bill...
Personally, I was looking forward to the '08 elections as my first chance to vote. Unfortunately, my vote, and every other in North Carolina, will not matter. (NC's electoral votes go to the nationwide popular vote winner...) If we were going to support the popular vote, then votes in North Carolina should count too, instead of sending NC electoral votes toward the results of New York, Texas, and California.
Posted on June 2, 2007 12:06 PM
Unless I'm misunderstanding something, here is a scenario where the majority of NC voters could swing an election but because of this bill their votes would be thrown out. Suppose that a candidate were to win the popular vote in the other 49 states by less than 100,000 votes but in NC that candidate lost the election by 125,000 votes. Because of this law, the popular vote would be won by the candidate that won NC but that candidate would not win the election. Based on this scenario, what's been corrected? Maybe there's nothing wrong with the current electoral college. I also don't like the idea that the people of the large cities (who are predominantly liberal) would get more of a say in government than anyone else, which is exactly what this bill is designed to do.
Posted on June 3, 2007 4:54 PM