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From: Gary McGath <garym@mcgath.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.fandom
Subject: Re: Vancean logic
Date: Sat, 10 Aug 2024 17:02:17 -0400
Organization: Mad Scientists' Union
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On 8/10/24 2:31 PM, Cryptoengineer wrote:

> That said, the notion that the power of the franchise maybe shouldn't
> be evenly distributed is a long standing one. Universal franchise in
> the US is only about 100 years old, and even Heinlein proposed such
> in Starship Troopers.
> 
> Even today, the Electoral College gives residents of some states
> much more electoral power than others. A Wyoming voter's vote counts
> more than 3x as much as Californian's in electing a President.

If electoral votes were allocated strictly according to population, the 
cities would control the elections. There is a benefit to having a 
regional factor as well as a population factor in making sure no single 
demographic, even a majority, controls the election.

That said, the more basic problem is that the current political system 
gives an outrageous amount of power to the president. Congress largely 
does what the president says whenever the majority of Congress comes 
from the same party as the president. This wasn't the intent of the 
Constitution, and it isn't a good idea. If the president had less power, 
those who didn't vote for the winner would be less disenfranchised.

-- 
Gary McGath    http://www.mcgath.com