The US Electoral System needs overhauling.

[Torc]

A system where a group of people elect delegates to an electoral college was
designed to allow elections to take place in a country that was huge, during
what was effectively a horse and buggy era for transport.

The fact that in a recent election the candidate who won the popular vote
lost, because they did not gain enough electoral votes, is simply one indicator
of a desperate need for overhauling the system.

Another is that from the start of the campaining for the party nominations
very little work can be done by the government is a great hindrance to
solving problems that affect people.

In addition I am heartily sick of having been bombarded by "news" reports of
the various events and the candidates wit, wisdom, bumblings & fumblings.

These and other facts make me believe that it is time for a change of system for the US.

In order to help them come up with a better system, in this the 3rd Millenium,
I would like to put forward a new electoral system.

There is just one set of elections for the party nominees. These, along with
any independent candidates, have their photo (8 by 10) placed in a field.

A cow, or similar grass eating quadruped, is set loose in the field.

The first person to have their photo splattered with more than 1 square inch
covered is declared the winner.

For each hour there is not a winner another quadruped is let into the field.

If you vote yes on the poll for them eneding to overhaul the system then
please add your own suggestion for an improvement.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I, too, believed that the electoral college system was an anachronism, and it may well be, but I also read a mathematical explanation for it, and feel that it still has merit. The result is an amplification of the significance of any one vote for any state.

However, you then wandered well away from the electoral college system and started talking about voting in general, which was unfortunate, as I had already voted based on the question asked. Had the question been about the voting or campaign system in the US, I would have voted differently.

I favor rank voting. The current system produces candidates that divide the country too much. Only a handful of people really like everything about either of the current two, or any other set in the past. Most people like one a bit more than another, but are stuck because they only have two choices. There are better systems, such as rank voting, that would produce candidates more in tune with the majority of the citizenry.

[Kasracer]

Everything needs to be overhauled in the US. The idea behind the electoral college is solid but the implementation leaves much to be desired.

We can't just go off of popular vote. Look at it this way: Let's say 60% of America's land was at a constant 20F but the majority of people lived in the 40% warmer areas. What happens if they elect someone based on the popular vote? You get mostly policies that favor the warmer folks.