Image Credit: The Canadian Press

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: U.S. electoral college has similar advantages to our FPTP

Nov 3, 2020 | 4:35 AM

AMERICANS VOTE TODAY for a new president as well as an array of local, state and federal representatives.

They don’t directly choose their president. That’s done via the electoral college, a system that’s under intense criticism and calls to abolish it in the U.S. It seems we in Canada don’t understand it, and Americans no longer want it.

Opposition is probably influenced by the fact that two recent presidents took office after being defeated in the popular vote but winning the electoral college.

While the electoral college certainly needs reform and a serious look at the distribution of votes among the states, our neighbours to the south should think twice before they eliminate it altogether.

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The electoral college system is a distant cousin to our own first-past-the-post. The beauty of first-past-the-post is that it recognizes the wishes of voters in each riding. We don’t simply throw all votes into a big hat and pick a winner based on who has the most support in the province as a whole.

Since the recent B.C. election, there have already been renewed calls by those who just won’t give up on proportional representation. If you think the U.S. system is complicated, take a look at prop rep, which divvies up representation according to total popular vote.

Fair Vote Canada has been sending around their favourite pie charts showing that the NDP won 45 per cent of the vote but have 63 per cent of the seats and “100 per cent of the power.” And that the Greens got 15.3 per cent of the popular vote and only 3.4 per cent of seats. Interestingly, the BC Liberals’ popular vote corresponds nicely to their seat total.

They ignore the disparities caused when high-population urban areas are allowed to dominate the outcome. That’s the same problem that would occur if the U.S. elected presidents strictly based on total popular vote.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.