This letter is in response to a recent article, “Maine eyes popular vote bill.”

People of Maine should never want to eliminate the current Electoral College system.

Delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 were concerned that a president elected solely by a popular vote would always come from more populous states and pander to the needs and political interests of the larger states, neglecting those of rural America. As a result, the Electoral College system was created.

The Electoral College is purposefully weighted to give smaller states a larger voice in presidential elections. Maine has 4 of the 538 total electoral votes, in which Maine has one electoral vote per every 325,000 citizens. A state such as California gets one electoral vote per 625,000 citizens. Therefore, a vote in Maine has twice as much weight as a vote in California. If the election were based solely on the popular vote, Maine would carry one out of every 325 votes (Maine’s population vs. U.S. population). With the use of the current Electoral College, Maine carries one out of every 135 votes.

The argument to eliminate the Electoral College system typically comes from the larger states. In this case, the National Popular Vote Project, which helped support this bill, is based in California.

Kevin Hanlon, Lisbon