So my radio gently wakes me up this morning like it always does. Then an ad comes on urging Governor Lingle to sign a bill to change the way Hawaii votes in the Electoral Collage.
WHAT!!! Well I'm awake now! Where the hell did this come from? I read the papers. I listen to the radio. And the first time something of this magnitude comes up it's already silently sailed though our legislature and only now it goes pubic to goad the Governor into signing it? Shouldn't something of this importance have been publicly debated??
While we can debate the merits of the EC (but I'd urge you to read this first). What I object to most of all is how this bill ran under the publics' radar.
What this bill does is call for Hawaii to cast it's EC votes according to the nation's popular vote. In other words, ignore how Hawaii voted - go with the nation. If this had been in place in 2004, Hawaii would have gone with Bush, not Kerry.
Some people think this will improve Hawaii's stature in the Presidential Election. Preposterous. According to my math, Hawaii cast but 0.35% of the votes in the election but cast 0.74% of the EC votes. If the nation reverts to a pure popular vote, Hawaii looses half of it's already meager influence.
Worse is the full page add to Monday's paper (Hmmmmm, where is all this money coming from??). It claims that a vote in New Hampshire is more valuable then a vote in Hawaii. Funny, that's not what my math says. NH had more then 50% more voters turn out but still only got 4 EC votes. Sure sounds like a vote in Hawaii counts MORE then a vote in NH. (Don't feel too bad for them. NH still got more influence though the EC then though their own popular vote.)
So the first order of business is to email the Governor urging a veto of this horrid action. Hell of a way to start a Monday.
WHAT!!! Well I'm awake now! Where the hell did this come from? I read the papers. I listen to the radio. And the first time something of this magnitude comes up it's already silently sailed though our legislature and only now it goes pubic to goad the Governor into signing it? Shouldn't something of this importance have been publicly debated??
While we can debate the merits of the EC (but I'd urge you to read this first). What I object to most of all is how this bill ran under the publics' radar.
What this bill does is call for Hawaii to cast it's EC votes according to the nation's popular vote. In other words, ignore how Hawaii voted - go with the nation. If this had been in place in 2004, Hawaii would have gone with Bush, not Kerry.
Some people think this will improve Hawaii's stature in the Presidential Election. Preposterous. According to my math, Hawaii cast but 0.35% of the votes in the election but cast 0.74% of the EC votes. If the nation reverts to a pure popular vote, Hawaii looses half of it's already meager influence.
Worse is the full page add to Monday's paper (Hmmmmm, where is all this money coming from??). It claims that a vote in New Hampshire is more valuable then a vote in Hawaii. Funny, that's not what my math says. NH had more then 50% more voters turn out but still only got 4 EC votes. Sure sounds like a vote in Hawaii counts MORE then a vote in NH. (Don't feel too bad for them. NH still got more influence though the EC then though their own popular vote.)
So the first order of business is to email the Governor urging a veto of this horrid action. Hell of a way to start a Monday.
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