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Lawmakers in Maine are currently considering that we give up our Electoral College votes to the U.S. popular vote and, I believe, completely diminish the voice of Mainers in that vote. The Electoral College system gives lowly populated states like Maine a special place in voting. Without the Electoral College, our vote outcome will continually be controlled by states with very large populations like New York and California.
Representative governing has set the U.S. apart from other nations. I ask myself, why would any state representative desire to give away such a privilege. The only answer I could come up with is that some representatives think that the process will help select the candidate in their political party while the voice of Maine people suffers.
Let me use hyperbole. Suppose that the popular vote is won in the U.S. by 100,000 votes and Maine overwhelmingly voted for the second candidate by a margin of 200,000 votes. Our delegates would go to the first candidate and the voice of Maine people would be lost. This is not representation; this is Maine’s voice being overridden by other states.
I urge Maine residents to think long and hard before they select who to vote for in the next election. I think any representative who is willing to give away our voice is likely to believe they can tell us what kind of car we should be driving or some worse destruction of our personal liberties for the sake of the “greater good.” Wake up Maine.
Vincent Caccese
Levant
