I was very excited when I saw this headline in my RSS news feed:
O'Malley Signs Bill to Bypass Electoral College
Personally, I am very frustrated with the electoral college, because it means my vote doesn't count. I have long said that there are two reasons for me to vote for president. The first is to give myself a little pat on the back for at least trying. The second is to prove to this country that we need to get rid of the Electoral College.
Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) signed a bill into law today that makes Maryland the first state in the nation to join a movement to bypass the Electoral College and elect U.S. presidents by national popular vote.
The bill, passed in a session of the General Assembly that concluded yesterday, would award the state's 10 electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the most votes nationwide -- not statewide. The agreement would not take effect until states that cumulatively hold 270 electoral votes -- the number needed to win a presidential election -- sign on. (Italics mine)
I can't say whether I agree with how this is being done. I haven't read anything about this before now, so the news article came as a surprise. However, any argument against this that I can think of still makes it a better system than we currently have. And I get the impression that Maryland isn't aiming for this to be the ultimate fix, rather they are trying to start the movement across the nation.
We are long past the time where the Electoral College is useful. The technology exists to make everyone's vote count, and so our nation needs a movement towards this.