Republican’s want selective electoral reform
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With the announcement that Pennsylvania Republicans intend to push a bill that would dramatically change how electoral college votes are dealt, Republicans are poised to significantly affect who becomes the next President of the United States.
Electoral college reform
Currently, almost every state awards all it’s electoral votes to one candidate. In Pennsylvania, for example, Obama won 52 percent of the vote to Romney’s 46.8 percent in the 2012 elections. Because Obama won the majority, he received all 20 of the state’s electoral votes.
The Republican proposed bill would abolish the “winner-takes-all” system in favor of a proportional award of electoral votes.
If the bill were in law in 2012 then, Pennsylvania would have awarded Obama 12 electoral votes and 8 would go to Romney.
Similar bills proposed by other Republicans would proportion the vote by heavily gerrymandered congressional districts that would even more significantly change the vote.
The argument for the proportional system is that it is a more direct representation of the voters. In a letter outlining the proposal, state Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R) said:
“I plan to introduce legislation which would align Pennsylvania’s electoral votes for president more closely with the state’s popular vote by distributing electoral votes proportionately.”
The argument appears sound until you examine the issue of electoral college reform more closely. Republicans in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, all swing states that went to Obama, are considering similar bills.
You don’t see Texas or any other state that went to Romney considering similar legislation.
If Republicans were able to approve these reforms in states that help strengthen their electoral college count, while preventing similar reform in the rest of the country, they are unequivocally tilting the vote in their favor and changing a relatively level playing field.
The bottom line
It would be one thing to reform the electoral college on a national level, as was done with the 12th and 23rd amendments to the U.S. Constitution, but what is currently being attempted is a manipulation of our system that does not accurately depict the will of the American voters.
There seems to be a fundamental problem with Republicans regarding their desire to win. Instead of shaping a strong argument to convince people that the Republican philosophy is the right one, they use tactics of manipulation. Long lines in Democratic districts, selective Electoral College reform, evasive ultra-sounds for women who want an abortion, and strict voter-id requirements do absolutely nothing to affect the hearts and minds of voters, rather they circumvent them.
That’s no way to lead the United States of America.
Photo: JasonLangheine/Flikr
Jason Franklin
Jason is editor-in-chief of Franklinian.com as well as a contributor to multiple news sources including Examiner.com and Wehoville.com. A southern California native, Jason studied at Woodbury University and Columbia University.
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