Imagine if our presidential elections did not involve the Electoral College. Imagine if everyone’s vote were counted equally no matter where they lived. Al Gore, a candidate who believed in climate change, would have been elected president. We might never have been involved in Iraq, a war that deposed a dictator but caused harm to both our countries.
Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by a wide margin. We would have been spared four years of lies and attacks on democracy promulgated by former President Trump. The Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol – and on our democratic process – would not have happened. The current Supreme Court would be more balanced if presidents elected in the minority had not been able to appoint four of our current justices.
Getting rid of the effects of the Electoral College is possible. Many people from both parties are working to get the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact passed by their states’ legislatures. This agreement would mean that once enough states had joined the compact to equal 270 Electoral College votes, the votes of those states would go to whomever won the national popular vote. States with a total of 205 votes have already joined the compact. The passage of L.D. 1578 would add Maine’s four votes to the total.
It is even possible that the compact could be enacted in time for the 2024 presidential election. Please urge your legislators to support L.D. 1578 during the next legislative session.
Priscilla Markley
Winthrop
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