Editor:
I am writing in response to Erin Hanlon’s October 6th comments on the October 3rd article concerning vote trading. I find her letter simplistic and naive.
Her editorial assumes that the only proponents of vote swapping are Nader supporters who would be more successful if they told 100 of their nearest and dearest to vote Nader. This is idealistic at best, and given Nader’s past record — empirically denied.
I am a Bush supporter; however, I have arranged (via Clayton Cornell and http://votepair.org) to swap a Nader vote for a Kerry vote with a voter in a swing-state. Why? Because I am supremely confident that Bush will win. Thus, my individual vote can be put to better use as a challenge to the outdated Electoral College system.
I would love to see this nation move in a direction where every vote counts. As of now there is no impetus for politicians to change the voting process — it still works for them. That could, and likely would, change very quickly if they realize that people are finding ways around the system. All it takes is one election’s outcome changed by something like vote swapping and the proposals to reform the Electoral College will hit the table.
The potential of creating an election system which works is something worth voting for.
Lucy BeauclairJunior- [email protected]