Contrary to letter writer Michael A. Smith (Nov. 15) and other admirers of the Electoral College such as columnist M.D. Harmon (Nov. 18), it is not true that the Electoral College “gives us all a greater voice.” If I don’t vote with the majority in my state (or, in Maine, with the majority in my congressional district), my vote is simply thrown away – it doesn’t get put in with all the other votes my candidate gets nationally. So I wind up having no voice at all.

The Electoral College is a relic of the time when one belonged first to a state and only secondly to the country. Historians tell us that before the Civil War, you would say “The United States are”; since then you say “The United States is.” I love Maine, but when I vote for president I vote as an American, not as a Mainer, and my vote should be counted with those of all other Americans.

I am not suggesting that the Electors should revert to the originally intended role of applying their good judgment to prevent a demagogue from becoming president. Trump won under the rules as they are applied (although there is absolutely no reason to say that “the people” elected him). And I understand that changing the rules would require that at least 12 small states give up the advantage they have now. But there is no reason for anyone to be proud of the Electoral College. Washington, Jefferson, Madison and the other Founders probably wouldn’t be if they could see how it is working now.

Neil Gallagher

Brunswick

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