One of my perceived fundamental flaws with the American voting system, specifically for the president of the United States, is the electoral college and the way it makes certain states more important than others.
An example of this would be how President Barack Obama and candidate Mitt Romney spend way more time and money in a state like Ohio over a state like Mississippi.
Both Obama and Romney know Mississippi will go the way of the Republicans, barring hell freezing over, so they do not exert much effort in Mississippi.
I think this system is flawed and outdated and should be done away with because it is not reflective of what most Americans want.
There is a plan among states right now called The National Popular Vote Bill and this could be the beginning of the end of the electoral college.
The bill was first authored in the state of Maryland and signed into law in 2007.
The goal of the bill isto give the states’ electoral votes to the winner of the national-popular vote rather than the state-popular vote.
The bill would not end the Electoral College but it would help in leveling the playing field in terms of importance of all of the states.
To win the presidency, candidates would have to win the popular vote, which some presidents have not had when they have won the election in the past.
The key to this bill actually working on a national scale would be having enough states and their electoral votes to get to 270, the magic number to win the White House and agreeing to actually follow this plan.
As it stands right now, seven states have agreed to this policy and they are California, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont, Washington D.C. and Washington, totaling 132 electoral votes.
These states have agreed to and passed their own National Popular Vote laws, and I hope more will follow.
I think this is the first step toward a popular vote for the position of president of the U.S.
If someone can become a senator or congressman based on a popular vote, why not the highest office in the country?
We only have to look back to the 2000 elections to see the huge flaws in the system. Bush won with the electoral votes, but not in the popular vote.
If the presidential elections are as close this year and get contested somehow because of voting fraud, broken voting machines, etc., I think we will see a major call for election reform and possibly more states moving towards a system like the National Popular Vote Bill calls for.