Should MD join other states in rejecting Electoral College?

[eppur_se_muova]

Wow, I didn't see this earlier!


OPINION: Bill Would Move Md. to Forefront of How We Elect Presidents

Posted on March 09, 2007:

By Maryland Senator Roy Dyson
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But that’s not the case. Once people find out that they are not directly voting for their choice to be the next President and Vice President of the United States, they start to question the process. The Electoral College has a long history dating back to the Constitutional Congress. States elect the president based on the number of Senators and members of the U.S. House of Representatives there are in each state. Of course, each state has two U.S. Senators, but their House delegation differs by population. The higher the population in each state, the more U.S. Representatives they receive. In Maryland, we have eight U.S. House representatives as well as two U.S. Senators.

I have a personal connection to the Electoral College having been a member myself in 1976. Along with nine other members from the state of Maryland, we all met in Annapolis on December 13 of that year to elect Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale to be our choice for President and Vice President of the United States. Carter and Mondale later prevailed in the national election in a tight race over incumbent President Gerald Ford.
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While I have a particular affinity for the Electoral College for these personal reasons, I can understand why there is sentiment to replace what some say is an archaic system. This is why I am interested in a bill before my Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee that was heard on March 8.

Senate Bill 634 would allow Maryland to join a number of states to be a part of the “Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote.” Under this Agreement, Maryland would commit its presidential electors to the national popular vote winner in a presidential election.
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I have not made up my mind regarding this legislation, but the strong testimony provided by the bill’s sponsor, Senator Bayh and Representative Buchanan, was strong enough to make me think long and hard about this monumental and perhaps necessary change in the way we elect the most important leader in our country. I look forward to hearing your feelings regarding this subject.
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more: http://somd.com/news/headlines/2007/5553.shtml