Dear Editor;
We should all be extremely proud of the progress our Legislature and Governor have made by entering into the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPV). The compact will further democratize our presidential election and make every Coloradan’s vote count.
By electing the president by popular vote, every voter will know they had a say in the final outcome and that their vote mattered. It will effectively eliminate the designation “battleground state” where campaigning is currently concentrated, leaving “safe states,” like Colorado, mostly ignored by candidates. This is exactly what happened in the 2016 election.
With the NPV every vote will count, every vote will be equal, every vote will be sought after. Campaigns will be required to work to win votes in every state. This contrasts with the silo approach needed currently to win the Electoral College that concentrates candidate’s efforts in key states while others, like Colorado, are ignored.
Popular sentiment now overwhelmingly identifies the Electoral College as an institution that no longer serves us and declares we should progress past this antiquated institution. Polls show that 68 percent of Coloradans favor the election of the president by a national popular vote count over the Electoral College. The Compact is law in 37 states.
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton agree on this point. In 2012 Trump said, “The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy. A total sham and a travesty.”
In 2016 Trump said, “I would rather see it, where you went with simple votes. You know, you get 100 million votes, and somebody else gets 90 million votes, and you win. There’s a reason for doing this. Because it brings all the states into play.”
Clinton in 2000 stated, ” I believe strongly that in a democracy, we should respect the will of the people … and move to the popular election of our president.”
How Coloradans participate in national elections is a states’ rights issue. The U.S. Constitution does not prescribe how electors are chosen. That is left up to each state. Quoting the Constitution, the electors are chosen by the states “in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct “(U.S. Constitution, Article II, section 1).
Our state officials have decided that it would be good for our state to progress into the future and join with the American people as a whole in electing our president. The NPV compact claims Colorado’s state’s right to define how electors are chosen.
Those who champion states’ rights would be right to scorn the Electoral College. Let’s claim Colorado’s states’ right and let Coloradans fully participate in a presidential election where every vote counts.
JoAnne Allen
Nathrop
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