One Person, One Vote? One Problem…

Donald Trump would not be President if there wasn’t an Electoral College.

Mitch McConnell would not be Senate Majority Leader if not for a Senate that values some votes more than others.

Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and whoever’s next, Ivanka Trump, I guess, owe their jobs to the lack of free and fair elections in America.

A few thoughts about Democracy in America.

At the Presidential Level

• The President got 3 million fewer votes than his opponent but “won”.
• Republicans have gotten the most votes in 1 of the past 7 Presidential elections but “won” 3 times.
• Over the past 50 years Republicans have placed 80% of the Supreme Court justices despite winning fewer than 1/2 of the votes.
• A person in Wyoming’s Presidential vote counts 4X more than a person living in California.

At the Congressional Level

• A person in Wyoming’s Congressional vote counts 68X more than a person living in California.
• The 47 Democratic caucusing members represent 15 million more Americans than the 53 Republican members.
• The Senate gives the average Black citizen 75% as much representation as the average white citzen.
• The Senate gives the average Latino citizen 50% as much representation as the average white citizen.
• By 2040, 3/4 of Americans will live in 16 states. The other 1/4 of Americans will control 2/3 of the Senate. A voter in Wyoming, Iowa, Alaska or Idaho will have a vote that counts nearly 100X more than a voter in Illinois, New York, Florida, California or Texas.
• It’ll count infinitely more than a voter in Puerto Rico, Washington DC or other American territories where they have no federal representation.
• 4.3 million American citizens live in areas where they do not have federal representation. This is a population larger than 25 states.
• 6X more American citizens live in Puerto Rico than in Wyoming.

At the State Level

• Democrats won 53% of votes in Wisconsin in 2018, earning 40% of the state senate seats.
• Following that election, they held a “lame-duck” session to strip power from the incoming Governor and give it to the Republican senate.
• The same thing was done in Michigan in 2018.
• The same thing was done in North Carolina in 2016.
• The state of Florida passed a voter rights bill granting voting rights to formerly-incarcerated citizens. The Republican State Assembly added a poll tax.

Democracy in America means that votes are unequal at the Federal level.
Democracy in America means that votes are unequal at the State level.

Democracy in America means your vote matters until it doesn’t.

(And if you’re fixing your fingers to type, “We’re a Republic, not a Democracy,” please read more books and fewer blogs like this.)