Are you sad? We Iowans were used to the presidential campaign limelight. TV cameras, reporters, and if we did not interact with the presidential candidates at least three times we were not completing our civic duty. Hearing them twice, the third time looking them in the eye while shaking their hand was my goal.
Now we only hear about the seven swing states, like their votes are the only ones that count. Well, that is partially true. Maine and Nebraska are the only two exceptions to the “winner-take-all” system of the electoral college. Those two states split the votes based on the district’s vote winner.
Ninety-three electoral college votes coming from seven states; Nevada (6), Arizona (11), Wisconsin (10), Michigan (15), Pennsylvania (19), Georgia (16) and North Carolina (16). Iowa has six electoral votes. That number is determined by adding the number of Congressional seats (four), plus the two Senator positions. Remember there are a total of 538 elector voters, but to win the Presidential candidate must obtain 270.
We as citizens believe in the importance of voting, but the electoral college determines the winner, weeks later. Sometimes its decision is to bypass the people’s choice and award the presidency to a candidate with the fewer popular votes. This incident has occurred in five U.S. presidential elections:1828,1876,1888, 2000, and 2016.
In 2016, though Hillary Clinton beat Trump by 3 million votes, in the vote that counts she lost by 77 electors — an outcome effectively decided by 80,000 people in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. That’s why Americans favor scrapping the electoral college by a margin of 2 to 1.
So how was the electoral college created?
In 1787 the Founding Fathers established the Electoral College in the Constitution, as a compromise between the election of the president by a vote in Congress and election of the president by a popular vote of qualified citizens.
Very parallel to the rationale for the House being a representation of the population, and the Senate by geography, the Electoral College was designed to protect rural states like New Jersey, a small state in 1787), from a large voting block of people like those living in Virginia.
Critics of the Electoral College system call it a relic of the 18th century—when only three-fifths of a Black person was counted, and Black men, women and White men who didn’t own property couldn’t vote—and argue that it doesn’t fairly represent our nation as it exists today.
Voting: According to the website for the Secretary of State for Iowa, on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December, the Iowa electors will meet at the Capitol to cast their votes for president and vice president of the United States. Iowa has six electors, elected at the Iowa Republican convention. They are listed as David Chung, Thad Nearmyer, Ronald Forsell, Polly Granzow, Charlie Johnson. and Kurt Brown.
Reform: Abolishing the Electoral College outright would require a constitutional amendment. As a workaround, scholars and activist groups have rallied behind the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPV), an effort that started after the 2000 election. Under it, participating states would commit to awarding their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote.
In other words, the NPV would formally retain the Electoral College but render it moot, ensuring that the winner of the national popular vote also wins the presidency. If enacted, the NPV would incentivize presidential candidates to expand their campaign efforts nationwide, rather than focus only on a small number of swing states.
For the NPV to take effect, it must first be adopted by states that control at least 270 electoral votes. In 2007, Maryland became the first state to enact the compact. As of 2019, a total of 19 states and Washington, DC, which collectively account for 196 electoral votes, have joined.
So how do we get Goldilocks into this column? There are numerous “down ballot” races, names to vote for lower on the ballot than the presidential choices. In Greene County we have House and Senate race competitions. In addition, there are contests for the Greene County board of supervisor races. Also, we all need to turn the ballot over to vote Yea or Nay for electing Iowa Supreme Court Justice David May.
When Goldilocks went into the bear’s house, she tried the chairs, too big, too soft, just right; the porridge, too hot, too cold, just right; Then the beds, first too hard, too soft, and just right.
Unlike Goldilocks we can’t obtain everything that is just right in the candidates. We need to ponder, and vote based upon who will best serve our district by listening, and then voting to improve equity, safety, and growth.
Do not be a part of this Goldilocks syndrome by waiting for the “just right” candidate. Vote either by requesting an absentee ballot now or vote early beginning Oct. 16. This can be done in person at the Greene County courthouse. Of course you may wish to choose traditional voting in person on Nov. 5 by going to your designated precinct.
VIEW FROM MY WINDOW is submitted by Mary Weaver from her rural home near Rippey.
