Letter: It is time for the Electoral College to go
In response to the Jan. 6 letter by R. Jay Bottenus (“Why should California decide who is president?), he incorrectly stated “Donald Trump won the other 49 states and the District of Columbia by over 600,000 votes.”
Hillary Clinton won 20 states and the District of Columbia. Her loss in the election was her failure to capture the majority of voters in certain battleground states such as Michigan or Pennsylvania. In each of those cases, Trump won by only a slim margin. So actually it was the Midwest and parts of the Mid-Atlantic that decided the election.
The Electoral College no longer serves a legitimate purpose, if it did at all. Part of the original intent was to give slave-holding states, at the time, a greater voice in the election. Yes, I know we are not a true democracy, but a representative constitutional republic based on democratic principles. I for one believe it is time for the Electoral College to go. Make each vote count.
Dan Miller, Kennewick
This story was originally published January 17, 2017 at 4:12 AM with the headline "Letter: It is time for the Electoral College to go."