Letter: Washington should allocate electoral votes by congressional district

It’s good to see that the Washington State Republican Party has taken a giant step forward and will now bind presidential primary delegates to the will of congressional district voters.

In the past, primary election results were considered nothing more than guides. So if you vote Republican in the upcoming primary election, your vote will count.

Not so in the general presidential election. Washington has one electoral vote for each congressional district and one for each Senate seat. Though votes are counted by congressional district, they are not forwarded to the electoral college in that way. Instead, they are all lumped together in a “winner take all” fashion. So if the more populous west side of the state votes differently than the east side, our votes don’t count. All electoral votes go to the candidate supported by the urban west.

Some states allocate their electoral votes by congressional district. Don’t you think Washington should too? After all, it’s government of, by and for the people, not the state or the party. Perhaps we should all discuss this with our legislators and ask that it be fixed.

West Richland

This story was originally published September 28, 2015 at 6:50 AM with the headline "Letter: Washington should allocate electoral votes by congressional district."