3 ms·

> Real, per-person voting (there's probably a term for that?) I suppose you mean direct election[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_election http://en.wik

• ctdonath 12y ago
  There are very good reasons for the "electoral college" outside of "real per-person voting" issues.
  • mhurron 12y ago
    And they are? The Electoral College is in place just for Presidential Elections because it used to be that it was impossible for the various candidates to peddle their platform all over the country. No other position had that issue, governors, senators, congressmen are all far more local elections. That issue doesn't exist anymore. There is no reason the president can not be directly elected.
    • ctdonath 12y ago
      This is the United STATES Of America. The states cast their vote, balancing the equality of states vs population - ensuring both that one large state doesn't get outvoted by a couple much smaller ones, and that one large state doesn't render multiple small ones politically impotent. CA & NY have strong leanings toward urban political interests which conflict with legitimate interests of WY, MT, AK, etc ... but in a direct vote, the former would completely overwhelm the latter rendering their cumulative votes irrelevant. With electoral college, we have a "progressive" vote whereby neither the majority overwhelms the minority, nor the minority have an undue power over the majority - instead, we have a sensible balance. Switch to direct election, and there will be no need for the various candidates to peddle their platform all over the country: candidates will focus on high-density population regions, ignoring "flyover country" entirely and unfairly biasing political power toward urban interests.