discover.com
The above is a link to an article on Discover Magazine's website. The article is on the mathematics of different voting systems. I urge everyone to read it, especially since they electoral college is about to come under review by Congress. If I may quote a portion of that article, I ask you to keep in mind the fact that third and 4th party candidates are often kept out of televised debates, and that the growth of new parties is of course a threat to the power of the Democrats and Republicans. In the recent Presidential election, Democrats were annoyed with Ralph Nader's Green Party, yet the Green Party - whether you like them or not are a source of new ideas and evolution of our political system. Given the fact that the Nader vote has likely cost Gore the oval office, and that the Green party's near term effect is greater than Buchanan's Reform party, you would think that the Democrats would try to supress the Green party's growth. Hillary's desire to end the electoral college can be seen in a new light after this quote from the Discover article,
"In a democratic election between two candidates, the winner is the person
with the majority of the votes. But when three or more candidates run, things
are seldom so simple. The winner often amasses only a plurality, not a
majority, of the votes. (Bill Clinton, for example, won the presidency with 43
percent of the vote; Jesse Ventura won the Minnesota governorship with 37
percent.) The plurality winner could be everybody else's least favorite
candidate and could even lose to each of the other candidates in a
head-to-head battle. As Saari puts it: "The plurality vote is the only procedure
that will elect someone who's despised by almost two thirds of the voters."
It is thought that Hillary will make a run for the White House in 2004. It is also well known that people either love her or despise her. Is her desire to get rid of the elctoral college an acknowledgement that the majority of voters not in the urban coastal centers despse Ms. Hillary? Is she trying to "rig" the 2004 election already?
The Discover article is very interesting and in my opinion, a MUST READ. |
