NC Should stop the steal

Not the way Trump insists, but North Carolina can stop stealing the votes of many.
 
We are a “purple” state, with 33 percent registered Democrats, 30 percent Republicans and 36 percent unaffiliated. In 2020, the margin of difference between the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates was 1.34 percent. In 2016 that margin was 3.66. In 2012, it was 2.04 percent. But our electoral college delegates cast all our 16 votes for the presidency to whoever got the most votes, regardless of the margins.
 
This is “stealing” the votes of whoever got the smaller number. We can stop this steal by changing the way electoral college votes are allocated. Instead of the winner-take-all method, we should apportion votes based on the percentage each candidate receives. This would ensure each vote counts and make our elections more representative.
 
This would also answer the growing number who claim the electoral college is antiquated and the president should be named according to the popular vote. Adopted in the 1787 constitution, the intent of the electoral college was that smaller, less populous states would have a representative voice in the selection of a president. It is the most controversial and had more attempts to amend or replace it than any other part of the Constitution. We should apply that same principle within state votes.
 
48 states currently award electoral college votes on the winner-take-all basis. Maine and Nebraska allocate their electoral college votes more proportionally.
 
Let’s stop the steal in North Carolina by apportioning electoral college votes proportionally!
 
While on the subject of making changes to the way we conduct elections let us offer some more suggestions.
 
Our feeble attempt to be a player in the presidential nomination process has been a wasteful folly. Holding primary elections on March 5 - eight months before the general election - is ludicrous. There is no way a candidate can sustain momentum and remain viable for eight months. Our previous primary date of the second Tuesday in May isn’t a good idea either. Prior to electronic and social media candidates might have benefitted from having time to go into each of our 100 counties and introduce themselves. In today’s media world they don’t need that much time. Besides, they are seldom seen in many of our 100 counties.
 
Let’s hold primary elections in August or even September, coinciding with children going back to school, families concluding vacations and the beginning of fall activities. As voters, we wouldn’t be bombarded with so many negative and offensive campaign ads for as long.
 
We could improve North Carolina elections with other changes.  Why do we even need to have party primaries anymore? Anyone wanting to run should pay their filing fee, get their name on the primary ballot, and make their case. The two who get the largest number of votes in the primary automatically qualify for the November general election. Political parties don’t have nearly the value or clout they once had.
 
Yes, there might be large numbers wanting to run for an office, but only the most serious will emerge, besides we can trust voters to discern the best qualified. This change would eliminate costly runoffs where fewer than a quarter of registered voters show up and would save us millions of dollars each election cycle.
 
We should also stop stealing votes by ridding our state of attempts to making it harder to register and vote. We approve of voter ID, but we should accept more respected picture IDs, like college IDs.
 
To encourage more people to vote let’s mail an absentee ballot to every registered voter. Eight states already do, and 15 others have modified versions of it. Voters mark their ballot, sign an affidavit on the exterior of the ballot, then mail it.  If this is as popular as we think it will be, we might be able to reduce the number of voting precincts in each county, the number of workers we pay and save money.
 
North Carolina’s election ballot is too long by a mile. We should eliminate the large numbers of officials we elect, starting with judges, perhaps the worst method known for getting qualified jurists on the bench. People don’t know who the candidates are, what they stand for, where they live or their positions on issues. They just know whether candidates are Republicans or Democrats. That is a stupid determinant for good justice.
 
We would also eliminate the large number of Council of State elections. The Governor and Lieutenant Governor should run together as one. We should elect the Attorney General, Auditor, State Treasurer and perhaps Secretary of State. The remaining offices could be appointed, perhaps with staggered 9-year terms, so as to eliminate partisan politics.
 
The bottom line is that we can and should streamline our elections, make them fairer to voters, save money, and by all means stop the steal!
 
Tom Campbell is a Hall of Fame North Carolina broadcaster and columnist who has covered North Carolina public policy issues since 1965.  Contact him at tomcamp@carolinabroadcasting.com