The 15th Amendment in 1870 gave black men the right to vote. A half-century later, the federal government decided women, too, could be trusted with the vote. But the Electoral College survives into the 21st century. This year, it will be unfair to Ralph Nader, whose backers will be invisible to the Electoral College unless they turn their back on their candidate and vote for Gore as the candidate closest to Nader on the issues. That's why Amar favors the instant-runoff election concept I praised in Tuesday's column.
People say it's too complicated.
With instant-runoff, a voter select the candidate he wants to win, his second choice and so on. The candidate with the fewest first-place votes is eliminated and second choices on those ballots are counted.