Editor,
Ah, yes … the Electoral College. I think many of us would like to see it fade away. But, I also think that this is wishful thinking.
To me the problem is not the Electoral College, per se, but the allocation of votes. I believe the concept of “winner take all” is the real culprit.
By selecting electors in proportion to the popular vote, the will of the people would be better represented. If one candidate wins 60% of the popular vote, that candidate gets 60% of the elector voters. If the second-place candidate wins 35% of the popular vote, that candidate gets 35% of the elector votes. If none of the third-party candidates win enough of the popular vote to win any elector voters, the remaining elector votes, in this case 5%, are split evenly among the top two candidates. This process would allow the retention of the Electoral College but more accurately represent the popular vote.
Imagine no more “swing” states.
So, the question is, how to make a state a non-winner take-all state? Maine and Nebraska found a way. Perhaps Washington should join that group.
Ken Lingbloom
Bellingham
Editor,
Thank you for the excellent article by Sophia Gates (CDN, Oct. 23, 2024) on the Mateo Meadows development by Habitat for Humanity in the Everson floodplain. Unfortunately, this important article may have been buried by our current focus on politics.
Relying on the current outdated 1979 Federal Emergency Management Agency floodplain maps is a poor investment and contrary to our state and federal efforts to build climate-resilient communities. Added building enhancements based on current flood behavior may limit damage over the next few years but will prove to be ineffective to the higher storm intensities of the future.
I understand the political sensitivity in updating the FEMA flood maps. The higher frequency of extreme weather events resulting from climate change will expand the current floodplain, possibly devaluing properties. Future homeowners have a right to know the flood status of their property.
Does anyone see the irony or even potential discrimination of housing families who can least afford it in a floodplain? Is there no high ground in Everson available for the Mateo Meadows development?
Our state and federal governments are currently providing millions of dollars to move coastal communities in Washington threatened by sea level rise to higher ground. This may be the only practical solution for flood-prone communities in the future. I have always respected and supported the efforts of Habitat for Humanity. My future support of their efforts will mainly be in the form of the taxes I pay to fund local and federal disaster relief efforts.
Ellyn Murphy
Bellingham
Editor,
Security concerns — used by local governments to eliminate open public comment sessions (CDN, Nov. 1, 2024) at council meetings — can be addressed without removing the single opportunity for citizens to address their elected officials orally so others in the audience can learn from each other and come together in common cause. I have written many emails to Blaine City Council and Whatcom County Council, and they have never responded to corruption issues I raise about community planning and public participation. I don’t even know if they bother to read them.
The only way to have total security for council meetings is to prohibit the public from attending and asking questions. That sounds like fascism to me.
In Blaine, Mayor [Mary Lou] Steward shut down oral public comment on Feb. 12 when a citizen asked questions about corruption involving the mayor and council member Mike Hill. Steward simultaneously announced she was suspending oral public comment until further notice. The city council then proceeded to adopt significant amendments to the Blaine Comprehensive Plan without addressing citizen concerns, either in person or by email.
The Growth Management Act requires open two-way discussions where citizens can ask questions and get answers from officials, as well as offer their ideas. This might be inconvenient for public officials — especially when they are subverting the law on behalf of developers — but that’s the price of democracy. Blaine adopted a 2024 development work plan without holding a single town hall.
Jay Taber
Blaine
Editor,
By the time this sees print, the election will hopefully have been decided. Either the country can finally breathe a sigh of relief or we will be headed down a path not trod since the mid-1800s.
What the campaign of Donald Trump has shown us is the glaring lack of basic civics education that should start in grade school so that we not only have an informed electorate, but an electorate that understands the need for being involved and informed.
What is also glaringly obvious is the need for some standards of mental health normalcy and minimal evaluation and disclosure of same by mental health professionals for anyone proposing to lead our nation.
Clearly, if nothing else, this election has shown us that many of our citizens are oblivious to or incapable of recognizing the line between legitimate differences of political orientation and discourse and lunacy.
Many seemed to just want to stir the pot, reality be damned. Hopefully, they will return to their little warrens and the world can once again continue to progress towards goals of benefitting humanity that was interrupted by a decade of slide towards the dark side.
Michael Waite
Sedro-Woolley
Editor,
We call a government that rules without the consent of the governed a “regime.” In my opinion, this label also applies to a state Legislature that actively disenfranchises its residents. True, Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the Constitution allows states to, “… appoint [Electoral College delegates], in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct.” But who would want to live where you couldn’t vote for president?
Growing up, I was expected to help out at home: Sweeping, vacuuming, doing dishes, weeding, raking, etc. I earned my allowance by contributing to the maintenance of the house. In my opinion, states’ sending Electoral College delegates “chosen by the people to elect a president” is the equivalent of doing chores.
“Tough Love” (for states that refuse to do this crucial part in the upkeep of democracy) could mean cutting off federal school meal funds, National Institutes of Health/U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grants, and National Endowment for the Arts and FEMA funding for cultural enrichment. Anything beyond the bare necessities of Social Security, Medicare, FEMA disaster assistance etc., will be withheld, like TV privileges, as the consequence of bad behavior.
Another way of looking at it is: Our Constitution is like the Department of Social and Health Services protecting “at risk/vulnerable” individuals; states are the families; Legislatures are the heads of household; and the federal government is the social workers. But the [John] Roberts (U.S. Supreme) Court is slowly taking away its ability to intervene where “kids are being mistreated at home.” Post Dobbs, women in many states are being forced into compulsory gestation, while we helplessly stand on the porch looking through the window.
To those living in a state that turns abusive: Move if you can! If the Affordable Care Act is dismantled, find a state offering the equivalent of Apple Health care. If enough hard-working folks emigrate to greener, “democratic pastures,” it will provoke … regime change.
Omar Firestone
Bellingham
Letters to the Editor are published online Wednesdays; a selection is published in print Fridays. Send to letters@cascadiadaily.com by 10 a.m. Tuesdays. Rules: Maximum 250 words, be civil, have a point and make it clearly. Preference is given to letters about local subjects. CDN reserves the right to reject letters or edit for length, clarity, grammar and style, or removal of personal attacks or offensive content. Letters must include an address/phone number to verify the writer's identity (not for publication).
How did state, Whatcom Democrats win big in a US election swinging the other way?