Idler Thoughts On Electoral College Apportionment

Shenanigans are afoot in Virginia and Pennsylvania and people aren't very happy about it- and nor should they be. Basically, Republicans in both states are seeking to apportion the state's electoral votes by Congressional District- like Maine and Nebraska do. (Basically, whoever wins a Congressional District gets a vote- whomever win the majority of them gets the two bonus votes that are the Senate seats. (Your state's electoral college total being number of House seats plus two Senate seats.)

Seems like a grand idea? I agree. I would encourage this- I think it would make the Electoral College very relevant again and, to some extent disperse the stranglehold that the usual group of swing states exercises over the Electoral College vote. I also think it would more accurately reflect voter preferences in the Electoral College. Just because people in Northern Virginia voted heavily Democratic and tipped the state to President Obama doesn't necessarily mean that the views of say, Southern Virginia were accurately displayed. The whole thing, overall would make for a more robust, democratic system I think.

BUT- (because there's always a 'but') In order for this to be truly effective, states have to have to HAVE TO go to an independent redistricting process and do their damndest to stick with it. Otherwise, whichever party has the redistricting reins is going to gerrymander the shit out of everything and rig the Electoral vote game in their parties favor for a decade. Which would produce entirely the opposite effect of what we should be going for... (hence the objections from some quarters in Virgina and PA.)

I don't hate this idea- I think if done right it could make any number of not-so-relevant states very, very relevant in the Electoral Process and it'd make the Electoral College more accurately reflect the true preferences of voters in each state. Short of abolishing the Electoral College altogether, this seems like the next best thing. But these reforms should go hand in hand with redistricting reform as well- if you pass laws like these and keep on gerrymandering, you do a massive disservice to the voters and do nothing but make the electoral vote in your state another cudgel to bludgeon the opposition with.

(The overall tone of the HuffPost article I linked too is a wee bit hysterical I think... and it doesn't necessarily mean that Republicans are up to no good. I looked at that map and I saw bad news for Democrats though because it showed that Mittens played better in states that went blue than Obama did in states that went red... do it right, it could be more a more democratic way of doing business but the proposal is also opening the door to a great deal of shenanigans that people should be wary of.)