Sequim Gazette Editorial and Letters to the Editor

A vote is the essence of democracy. That which denies the equality of our vote is a denial of democracy.

Unfortunately, when we vote for a choice of government, we lose control of that vote because there is no way we can follow our vote and know for sure that it was counted as we intended.

This fact is nowhere more evident than in how the choice of president is made.

The vote we cast for a president goes through at least three stages.

The first is the ballot, which is combined with every other vote to select an elector for the Electoral College. Then the electors make the choice for us. But what is not generally known is that the Electoral College is seriously flawed.

The Electoral College is established through the census, which takes place every decade in the year ending in zero. The census determines the number of electoral votes assigned to each state every 10 years.

But presidential elections take place every four years. Thus we have a significant lack of coordination and compatibility that affects the vote value of every voter.

The census takes two years to complete before it can be used to adjust the number of electors assigned to each state. Thus, those voting in a year ending with zero will be voting on a population count from 10 years before.

This impacts the vote value of every state that has an increase in population. A state growing in population will have more people voting than when the electoral votes were assigned.

Every voter in a growing population state will compete for fewer electoral votes and their vote value will be less.

And if every eligible voter does not vote, those who do vote will be rewarded with the value of those uncast votes, thus increasing the power of those who do vote. That is why "getting the vote out" is important because if you don't use it, someone else will benefit without your knowledge.

For states losing population, the reverse is true. Every voter in those states will benefit by the loss of competing votes.

Several states have suffered significant increase in population density from election to election.

Since 1904, states such as Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey and Texas have had the problem of growing populations because they have grown faster than the 10-year census cycle and thus had poorer vote values.

States such as Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania have lost significant population, giving their voters an advantage in vote values.

The only way the Electoral College could become responsive to the four-year election cycle would be a census based on four years, which of course is out of the question.

Furthermore, if your candidate does not receive a majority of the votes in your state, then all the state's votes will go to the other candidate. Thus, you vote for the candidate you do not want.

There can be only one solution that will satisfy our desire to follow our vote and to vote democratically - one vote per voter.

It is a method we have used every day for well over half a century. That is the credit card system where we safely transfer a value, our money, to another for a purchase.

A vote is a value; a value is a number; credit cards transfer numbers constantly all over the world.

We can trace every transaction through the reference numbers assigned to every transaction. That number is unique to each transaction.

The very same method can be applied to voting. Each registered voter could receive a voter card and follow the very same steps as in making a purchase, as a vote is a form of purchase. When the vote is made, the voter card cancels automatically for that election.

Once the election is over, the reference numbers would be published under the names of each selection so that each voter may find their number. Because no one else will know that number, voters will have complete anonymity and they will see that their vote was properly cast and counted.



Clint Jones is a free-thinking writer who lives in

Sequim.