LETTER: Let’s reform the Electoral College

Gov. Steve Sisolak vetoed Assembly Bill 186, which would have given Nevada’s Electoral College votes to the candidate with the highest national vote total. But it has generated numerous comments, a number of which only hint at the Electoral College problem.

The equal voting power principle mandated by smaller colonies before they would ratify the Articles of Confederation, which replaced the provisional government at the onset of the Revolution, was included in the Constitution as each state having two senators. Comparing Wyoming to California shows that this is far more significant to smaller states than is having two additional Electoral College votes. Whereas the voting power of a Wyoming resident in the Electoral College is greater than that of a California resident by a factor of 3.8, the factor increases to 70 in the Senate.

The problem with the Electoral College is that electors for most states vote as a bloc. The more democratic resolution is to select electors at the congressional district level, as is done in Maine and Nebraska. Were this done for Nevada in the last election, rather than six votes for Hillary Clinton, there likely would have been three for Ms. Clinton and one for Donald Trump, with two electors yet to be designated. Maine and Nebraska select the remaining two electors by state popular vote. More ideal would be by a statewide election from a field of qualified, nonpartisan candidates.