The effectiveness of popular vote was compared to the Electoral College vote April 5 in a small debate in the Holliday Forum, featuring former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo from Colorado.
In 48 states, the presidential candidate receiving the most votes in a particular state wins all of the electoral votes for that state. When a candidate receives 270 electoral votes, he or she becomes the president.
Tancredo taught ninth grade civics and later served 10 years in the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C.
“It was a wonderful experience, but I would never want to do it again,” Tancredo said.
When Tancredo campaigned to be president of the United States in 2007, he based his platform on tightening immigration laws. He said he wanted to get legislators talking about their stance on immigration.
“That was just the next step after I had done everything I thought I could in the House,” he said.
Six months ago, Tancredo’s friend in the Colorado state legislature contacted him about the National Popular Vote because Tancredo felt the Electoral College had become corrupt.
“I saw how much money was spent trying to buy electoral votes,” Tancredo said.
Tancredo said electoral votes do not accurately portray voters’ opinions on a national level because the voice of voters in the minority does not count. Small states often receive less attention from presidential candidates because they have fewer votes, he said.
Randy Hayden, president of Creative Communications, Inc., said last year the Louisiana legislature addressed the idea of a national popular vote. It passed in committee, but was never presented on the floor. Hayden said new legislation has been introduced this term in both the Senate and House.
Kevin Kane, president of the Pelican Institute for Public Policy, argued in favor of the Electoral College by saying competing interests, such as presidential candidates, need to be balanced and the current system provides balance.
Kane argued politicians will attempt to buy votes regardless of the system.
“It just goes along with democracy,” Kane said. “People are going to vote, and politicians are going to try to get those votes.”
Kane said politicians seeking a win will also look at demographics whether the system is changed or not. Candidates will attempt to gain support from different groups of voters.
He urged legislators to communicate with their constituents about the issue and said that Louisiana residents need to know why the state does not receive national attention.
“Let’s look at the Gulf oil spill,” Tancredo said. “How much attention was paid to problems Louisiana had as compared to what happened when oil reached the first beach in Florida?”
In the debate, Tancredo supported the idea to create interstate compacts where states agree to pass a law to change their electoral system to support the popular vote, but Kane disagreed.
“We do need to think long term,” Kane said. “It’s not about the impact of 2012.”
Kane said if the current voting system was to be changed, a constitutional amendment should be passed because states can pull out of compacts, meaning the voting system could change every election.
“It’s an issue worthy of discussion,” Hayden said. “No matter what side of the issue you’re on … the discussion itself is a benefit.”
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Contact Shannon Roberts at [email protected]