Re: One (wo)man, one vote

Posted by Suhail on 12-17-2007 in Is the electoral college an outdated institution?

I tend to agree and disagree to a large part of this argument. I see the merits of completely dumping the electoral system but at what cost? Both of these systems can be easily gamed and the one currently instituted is gamed based on exactly what neeru is stating: spending the most time in states that are essential to their ability to attain presidency. The electoral system doesn't accurately voice the individual American's vote if I live in a predominantly republican state and I am democratic.

What's wrong with a simple popular vote? It's too simple, there's minimal protection against ignorant Americans, the electoral college provides us this safety net to some extent. If you think it isn't possible to group up a bunch of people to create something silly then read this post on Jediism, relating to Star Wars, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jediism. I'll leave it to you to interpret the validity of this "faith." Do you want Darth Maul or Ms. South Carolina running your country due to ignorance. Through its satire, this video makes some very valid points and I encourage you to watch it (It'll make you laugh even if you don't quite make the connection, I mean to reference 1:00):


Basically, what I am calling for is a revamped system. I am not proposing one but we all make mistakes and we have all this information and knowledge, why not create an ungameable or at least a less gameable systematic way of voting? If we're going to institute or push for a new system at least spend your efforts creating one that makes more sense. I vote neither.