An electoral process compromise
Dear Editor,
The framers of the US Constitution created the Electoral College as a result of a compromise for the presidential election process. During the debate, some delegates felt that a direct popular election would lead to the election of each state’s favorite son and none would emerge with sufficient popular majority to govern the country. Other delegates felt that giving Congress the power to select the president would deny the people their right to choose. After all, the people voted for their representatives to the federal legislature. The compromise was to set up an Electoral College system that allowed voters to vote for electors, who would then cast their votes for candidates, a system described in Article II, section 1 of the Constitution.
Each state is allocated a number of electors equal to the number of its U.S. Senators (always two) plus the number of its US representatives (which may change each decade according to the size of each state’s population as determined in the Census).
Whichever party slate wins the most popular votes in the state becomes that state’s electors– so that, in effect, whichever presidential ticket gets the most popular votes in a state wins all the electors of that state.
The debate has started again as to whether the US Constitution should be amended in order to change the presidential election process. Some promote eliminating the Electoral College in favor of a direct popular vote for president while others believe the Electoral College should remain unchanged. Just as compromise solved the initial problems of the framers so it is that compromise can solve this problem. The solution is to change the electoral votes to electoral points and reward each candidate a percentage of points based on the percentage of popular votes received in each state. This would eliminate the “winner take all” system thus allowing for all the votes to count. A voter is more apt to believe their vote counted when a percentage of popular votes are taken into account rather than the “all or nothing” system currently in existence. Further, this new system would integrate the desire for a popular vote for president with the need for the individual states to determine who actually gets elected.
As for political primaries the number of delegates awarded in each state should be determined by the percentage of votes won by each candidate.
For 2016 multiplying the percentage of votes each candidate received (in each state) times the number of electoral votes (in each state) results in the following: Clinton 256.985 and Trump 253.482.
Joe Bialek
Cleveland, Ohio
PUD Commissioner candidate race
Dear Editor,
I would like to congratulate Jerry Asmussen in becoming our newest PUD Commissioner and thank him for all he has done for our community and will continue to do. Throughout my campaign for PUD Commissioner I have enjoyed meeting many people across Okanogan County and I would like to sincerely thank all of my supporters for your votes and assistance. I look forward to helping our community any way I can where I am currently involved as well as meeting new people where I have yet to become involved.
Thank you very much.
Aaron Kester
Tonasket
Grandparents visitation rights
Dear Editor,
Attention all alienated grandparents in Washington State, after working very hard for many months, it’s possible that the grandparents visitation rights statewide Legislative Initiative 877, Children Need Grandparents, may fall short of the required signatures by the Dec. 20, 2016 deadline. If you signed this initiative we thank you and ask you to get involved in this next step.
Don’t get discouraged because the next step for the restoration of grandparents visitation rights law, was discussed and decided on at the Nov. 15, 2016 Work Session meeting in Olympia, by Senator Pedersen and the people for grandparents rights.
This step is vital. Please call 509-378-0027 for information.
Washington is the only state out of the entire United States of America, that is failing it’s citizens by not having a grandparents/grandchildren visitation rights law since the year 2000.
Together we can stand up and be heard and take our lives and families back and make loving our grandchildren legal again.
Call today for the sake of our grandchildren’s future.
Christine Nichols
Richland, Washington
