Time is right to tweak the Electoral College

The following editorial appeared Monday in the Walla Walla Union Bulletin.

President Bush was re-elected two weeks ago and hardly anybody noticed. In fact, most folks thought Bush had been re-elected on Nov. 2. They were wrong. The president of the United States is not elected by the popular vote, but by the Electoral College. Under the system, states are allocated delegates to the Electoral College based on their population. Last week’s Electoral College vote wasn’t noticed because it wasn’t controversial. …

But four years ago there was an outcry. Bush lost the popular vote to Democrat Al Gore, although he garnered enough support in the Electoral College to win the election. There was a call for abolishment – or reform – of the Electoral College. Over the past four years folks have lost interest, mostly because the controversy has cooled. That’s too bad because the best time to make meaningful reform is when people are not irate. It lets people look at what’s right, not just at what benefits their cause.

The Electoral College does have some merit. If the president were elected by the popular vote, many citizens (including those in Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon) would essentially be ignored during the campaign. The candidates would focus on urban population centers. The Electoral College system gives smaller states a greater say – or, at least, some say – in the presidential election. If it weren’t for the Electoral College the only places in the Northwest that a presidential candidate would ever be seen are Seattle and Portland. Still, the winner-take-all approach doesn’t seem completely fair. In Washington state, for example, the western side of the state generally favors the Democratic candidate while the eastern side favors the Republican. Since more folks live west of the Cascades, Washington’s 11 electoral votes have been going to the Democratic candidate.

Perhaps the system could be amended so that the allocation of electoral votes more closely reflects the popular vote.

Nebraska and Maine have already tweaked the system to do just that. In those states, the statewide winner gets two electoral votes and the rest are allocated by congressional district. …

Under a Maine-Nebraska fix, Eastern Washington would have two electoral votes – and might gain some attention from presidential campaigns. It certainly wouldn’t reduce the interest in campaigning in Eastern Washington, which is now close to zero. …