I wish my vote for President counted

I imagine it will come to no surprise to readers of this journal that I voted for Barack Obama for president. I say that now only because I am feeling one of those periods where I wish that vote had actually meant something -- that it had counted. But, then, I went into the voting booth knowing that my vote was meaningless.

We're taught that, in our American form of democracy, voting is important -- that every vote counts. I guess it does except when it comes to voting for President. My vote, along with the vote of everyone else in Texas who voted for the president-elect was, for all practical purposes, thrown into the garbage.

Why? It's because we vote in Texas and because there still exists this antiquated institution known as the Electoral College. On Dec. 15, the members of the electoral college will meet and the Texas electors will all cast their votes for Republican John McCain. Texas is a "red state," meaning it votes for the Republican candidate and as long as that is the case, no votes for a Democratic candidate will count.

In fact, this whole "red state/blue state" division is strictly the result of the Electoral College and not an accurate reflection of the way Americans vote. Look at California, for example. A solid "blue state." No argument there, it went for Obama 61 percent to 37 percent. Yet John McCain received more votes in California (4,554,643) than he did right here in "red state" Texas (4,467,748).

But the real shame of the Electoral College is that in 2000 and twice before that, the Electoral College awarded the presidency to a candidate who did not win the popular vote. That's not the way democracy is supposed to work.

It also means that voters in states with small populations have far more impact than those in states with large populations. California, for example, has 70 times the population of Wyoming, but only 18 times as many votes in the Electoral College.

A constitutional amendment is needed to abolish the Electoral College. It is outdated (The institution is a by-product of slavery: Although slaves were not allowed to vote, each slave counted as three-fifths of a white person when it came to apportioning electoral college votes) and irrelevant (It was thought before the days of mass communications that voters scattered around the country would not be that informed on national candidates but would be familiar with local "electors" who could be trusted to vote "reasonably"). Perhaps the end is already in sight. New Jersey and Illinois have already enacted popular vote laws, which requires their electors to cast their ballots to the winner of the national election, not the winner of their respective states. I can't ever see Texas being this sensible so I doubt such a law will pass here, but if a majority of states join this movement, the Electoral College dies without a constitutional amendment.

However, I would still like to see work on an amendment begin immediately. Why now? Because the closer it gets to the next presidential election, the more such an amendment will be viewed on partisan terms (which party will be hurt or helped the most by it) instead of on its own merits.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, was re-elected pledging to end partisan bickering. If he really means it, he can start here, by introducing legislation to abolish the Electoral College. C'mon, John. Let's see if you can act like a statesman and not a party hack of the worst kind.