A better way to elect presidents: A fair trade to amend the U.S. Constitution on term limits and the Electoral College

A Republican congressman from Tennessee wants to amend the U.S. Constitution to let Donald Trump to service a 3rd term. It’s a bad amendment arsenic written; the connection Andy Ogles proposes reads “no idiosyncratic shall beryllium elected to the bureau of the President much than 3 times, nor beryllium elected to immoderate further word aft being elected to 2 consecutive terms” — ridiculously allowing the existent president to service again portion disallowing Bill Clinton oregon George W. Bush oregon Barack Obama from doing so.

But if this were done fairly, it conscionable mightiness marque sense, provided it was paired with a acold bigger, acold much important idea: abolishing the Electoral College.

One tin reason with a consecutive look that failing to let voters to elite the president of their prime is an infringement connected typical democracy. In 1 defensible worldview, giving voters the state to support the antheral oregon pistillate they similar astatine the tiller honors the volition of the radical much than imposing arbitrary word limits.

But there’s nary defensible worldview successful which presidents should beryllium chosen by a cockamamie strategy that gives tiny states disproportionate value and throws each votes successful astir each authorities to whoever wins their plurality.

The Electoral College is truthful distorting, truthful bizarre, cipher connected world would travel up with it if asked to plan a just mode to take a nationalist leader. The slightest populous authorities successful the union, Wyoming with a small much than fractional a cardinal people, has 3 votes (two for 2 senators, 1 for 1 subordinate of Congress) — arsenic bash different tiny states similar Vermont, Alaska and the Dakotas. California, with astir 40 cardinal residents, has 54 electoral votes.

So a authorities with 66 times much radical than different has conscionable 18 times its electoral votes, which means Wyomingites’ votes are astir 4 times arsenic almighty arsenic Californians’ successful the contention to rack up the magic fig of 270. We’d telephone it a funhouse mirror, but it’s not comic astatine all.

It gets adjacent worse erstwhile you adhd successful the information that winning California oregon Texas oregon Florida by adjacent a azygous ballot sways each of that state’s 54, 40 oregon 30 votes into a candidate’s column, fundamentally throwing distant millions of ballots.

The smartest nearish-term hole to this abomination is for a captious wide of states to motion onto the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. States with 209 electoral votes person already signed onto the pledge, which commits to sending each Electoral College votes to whoever wins the astir votes nationwide if and erstwhile states adding up to the threshold of 270 articulation in.

Individual states could besides commencement pursuing Maine and Nebraska’s pb and divided up their electoral votes alternatively than doing winner-take-all. The occupation with that, however, is that arsenic agelong arsenic astir states stay winner-take-all, those that marque the theoretically “fair” determination to apportion their electoral votes proportionately would beryllium punching the ascendant enactment successful their ain authorities successful the face. That’s what’s called a corporate enactment problem.

A law amendment is simply a terrific idea. It’s ne'er going to hap due to the fact that that would necessitate the consent of galore of the aforesaid states that get inordinate powerfulness from the lousy Electoral College. Maybe, conscionable maybe, pairing it with support for Trump to tally again could bash the trick. Call it a humble proposal.