The chaotic aftermath of the November election has shown how vulnerable and undemocratic the Electoral College system is. We have the opportunity to prevent this chaos from happening again if the National Popular Vote Compact is enacted.
The National Popular Vote would ensure that the president would be chosen by the people, with every vote counted equally throughout the country. There would be no battleground states and no spectator states.
Our current “winner take all” system is the problem. In the 2020 election, more than one-third of votes (more than 5 million) cast in California were for Trump, more than in any other state. However, California is a reliably blue state, with all electoral votes going to the Democratic candidate in the current winner-take-all system.
California is a spectator state, with ZERO visits from the candidates who prefer to focus their attention on the battleground states. Under a national popular vote system, candidates would be much more likely to visit California and GOP voters would have increased motivation to participate in the election since their vote would count equally with all votes cast in the country.
Maine also has a winner-take-all system by district. In the 1st District, which is reliably blue, Republican voters don’t have much voice in the outcome since the electoral votes in the first district likely will be cast for the Democratic candidate. The winner-take-all system is unfair and undemocratic. When enough states holding electoral votes totaling 270 join the compact, it will go into effect and the electoral vote will be consistent with the national popular vote.
Now is the time for Maine to join the NPV Compact and bring us closer to a true democracy, where EVERY vote in EVERY state would count equally, allowing the people to pick the president.
Jan Chapman
Cape Elizabeth
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