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Guaranteed trivialization of our great state of Colorado. The Rocky reported, on January 18th, buried on page 14A: “Lawmakers tentatively approved a measure that would set up a deal with other states in presidential election years to give all the state’s electoral votes to the winner of the nationwide popular vote.”
Although our nine electoral votes are not many, they are a vital bargaining chip forcing national decision-makers to pay attention to our state’s needs. If we give those votes away to the voters of other states, those national authorities have absolutely no reason to pay any attention to the citizens of Colorado. Do we want the voters of Texas, California, Florida and New York to decide how our electoral votes are cast?
The Electoral College was established to protect the less populous states. This idea to give our votes away probably results from the disappointment of some in the last election, but that emotional overreaction is not sufficient reason to surrender practices that protect Colorado’s citizens.
As a terrible idea, giving Colorado’s electoral votes away to more populous states would rank with President Bush’s naming Donald Rumsfeld as his Secretary of Defense. To those who advocate this radical surgery: The Law of Unintended Consequences may prove this despicable action to be a sword that cuts both ways.
If this proposal passes the Legislature, let’s hope that Governor Ritter has the courage and common sense to veto it.
Finally, a note to Denver’s newspapers: One sentence low on page 14 is absolutely inadequate coverage of a story of this importance. This vital topic needs more sunlight.
Thomas E. Mullins
Denver

This letter has not been edited.