SEQUIM — Clint Jones believes the Electoral College is unconstitutional, and he will outline his reasons during a workshop Thursday.
The Sequim man said he has collected more than 200 signatures on a petition requesting a congressional hearing on the Electoral College, the system of 538 electors who, acting as go-betweens for the voters, select the U.S. president every four years.
During the workshop at 3 p.m. Thursday in the Sequim Library, 630 N. Sequim Ave., he will present his reasons for saying, as he does in his petition, that the Electoral College is “unfair and unbalanced.”
In the system, each individual vote counts differently among the states, said Jones, who took the total number of votes in a state in the 2008 general election and divided that number by the total number of electoral votes for each state.
So he concludes that each Washington state vote counted 0.8835985. In Idaho, he said, each vote counted 1.4896615.
“The widespread discrimination on the Electoral College violates certain rights as prescribed by the U.S. Constitution, which specifically states that every state must recognize and honor the privileges and immunities of all citizens,” Jones’ petition reads.
“Voting is a privilege and as such deserves an equal value for every voter, regardless of where they may reside.”
Jones said he collects signatures in front of the Safeway store in Sequim, standing about an hour or two at a time.
He also seeks to start a discussion group on the issue and welcomes e-mails at cvjones@olypen.com and phone calls at 360-681-0101.
