Most states have primaries during years when we elect a president. I once believed that this was the most efficient way for voters to decide their support for the next President of the United States. When my state of Nevada switched to a caucus, I questioned the change. However, after participating in the experience, I now believe that this is the way we should elect all of our nation’s leaders. It may require more time and effort, but the result is pure democracy.
Whether we are voting in a local, state, or federal election, our votes should count. The system which elects our president today results in millions of votes thrown into a trash can. This does not happen during any other election; whoever wins the most votes is declared the winner. Why is the one exception the man or woman who will become the most powerful person in the world?
When I attend our state’s caucus today, I will literally stand for the candidate I support. Everyone in attendance will do the same and when we are all counted, a winner will be declared at the end of the day or possibly later. It’s simple. There are no electronic voting booths; the vote is not a secret. We will all stand with pride for the person we believe should become our 46th president.
Finally, I want to restate a fact which demonstrates why the Electoral College is not democratic, and why it must be abolished. Why every vote should count.
In 1992 Bill Clinton became our country’s 42nd president. He won both the popular and electoral vote. From then until today a Democrat won the popular vote in every election with the exception of Bush 43’s reelection in 2004; a reelection which would never have existed if the real winner of the 2000 election, Al Gore, would have been declared our president.
If the popular vote was the standard for electing a president, a Democrat would have been living in the White House for the last 27 years. Now, do you understand why Republicans treasure the Electoral College?
Time for common sense. Time to abolish the Electoral College and establish term limits for congress. But the latter is a story for another time.
“The Truth Lives Here”
Op-ed by James Turnage
Image courtesy of DonkeyHotey
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