Votes don’t count equally in America; that must change

The National Popular Vote bill would improve the voting system for president.

It would ensure a fair election making it so that every vote in every state counts equally. This bill has already passed in many states including New York, California and Illinois.

These states agree to award their electoral votes to the candidate who wins the national popular vote, not the statewide popular vote; this way we avoid the dreaded discrepancy between the people’s vote and the Electoral College vote.

All votes should count the same, regardless of what state you vote in. We as a country talk about free and fair elections around the globe. But should we not look in the mirror and ask ourselves: Does America have a fair election system for president?

The answer is no, the current system is defective and can sometimes lead to a president without the vote of the people. Twice in the past six elections did this happen: 2000, George W. Bush, and 2016, Donald Trump; 2004 and 2020 were near-misses, according to experts.

Though the National Popular Vote bill is opposed by most Republicans, all Americans should support this bill. We need to put nation above party.

In 2017, the National Popular Vote bill was first sponsored in the Ohio House of Representatives by Daniel Ramos and David Leland. However, it stalled after one hearing. However, even stalled bills are a little victorious in paving the way, should that bill be taken up again in the future.

Moreover, the legislative process is slow on purpose so that people can have enough time to think big things through. Fair. However, this is, in my humble opinion, a very good bill.

It fits in with the spirit of our times. We live in a highly democratic time; much more democratic than the late 1700s, when the electoral college originated.

In the general assembly of 2019, the National Popular Vote bill was introduced again by Leland, and cosponsored by seven other representatives. This session, the National Popular Vote bill had a hearing with the Federalism committee, and did better by virtue of familiarity. However, it still did not have Republican support and did not pass.

Right now, voters in large states have far more power than voters in small states. Although we live in Ohio, a large politically powerful state for the U.S. presidency, the electoral system needs to stop “disproportionally weighing” votes by state.

All votes should count equally regardless of the state they are from. The National Popular Vote bill does not weigh votes by state and thus ensures equality.

Ohio must pass the National Popular Vote bill. The National Popular Vote bill needs to be introduced again.

George Shetuni is a Columbus area author and blogger.