Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1878-04-27
THE NEW ELECTORAL SCHEME.

The electoral scheme agreed up
on by the House sub committee,
and which will be proposed as an
amendment to the constitution, is
rather TOO complicated a problem
of high mathematics to commend
itself at once to the average voter.
To arrive at the vote of tate
will involve sum 10 long div's-
ion and result, in most instances,
in lot of decimals and fractions
that will shroud the whole affair in
a Delphic mystery far more inpen-
e,Table to the masses than was
even the legerdermain of akunde
and the eight to seven fraud.
This Will be- an insurmountable OBJ
lection to the plan, for the result
of an election for President should
be self-evident and plain to every
one, though he be a wayfaring
man and fool nor do we see any
necessity for Completing it with
refinements, whether Of mathc>
mates or law.
The present sytem is simple
enough, but it is by no means sat
isfaciory or just, and the proof of
it is that several presidents have
been elected who had not received
plurality of the popular vote
notably Mr.. Lincoln. Under the
present system all the electoral
votes State is entitled to are Civ
on to the presidential candidate
who has received majority o.
plurality OF the popular vote.
The injustice of this plan was il
lustraled in the last election, for,
granting that Hayes carried both
Louisiana and Florida, yet Tildcn
received an immense popular ma
jority. 1t enables a large State
like New York, Pennsylvania Or
Ohio in Il close election to cast IT.
large electoral vote Tor one candl
date and elect him, even though
his opponent may have received
large popular majority. The
new plan is based on the theory
that the majority is entitled to
representation, and the aim is to
aggregate aud appor,on the who'll
vote cast for both candidates. 1t
provides that the number of no: u
lar votes cast for a candidate in ii
State shall be multiplied by the
whole number OF electors the State
is entitled to, the product to be
divided by the total popular vote
OF he state. For example al the
last election the popular vote of
Louisiana was as follows =
Hayes. ............ 80. ''A'f
Total l6l, O33
IF we multiply The Tilden vote,
SO. $50. by 8, the number OF cleo
tors Louisiana is entitled 10, thu
product is 69O.S72, which sun, di-
vided by 16l,O33, the total vote Of
the State. produces a quotient OF
4. 2. which is the proportion OF
the Louisiana vote Tilden would
have received. BY similar pro-
cess we get 3'9 as the number
to be counted for Hayes, the whole
making 8, the total electoral vote
of the State. A simpler method
Of obtaiDing the same result would
be to divide the entire vote by the
number of electors, thus ascertain
ing the number Of votes each eitc-
tor represents, and then divide the
number of votes received by each
candidate by this quoticn!. For
example, the total VOTE Of Louisl
ana was l6l ,O33, and there being
eight electors, each represented
2O,l29 ll8 votes, by which num>
Der the votes of Tlden and Hayes
are to be respectively divided:
This plan will certainl? obtain
more equitable coaut as 1t will
secure an apportionment OF the
vote Of each based on tho popular
vote, and thus prevent the defeat
Of majority by minority candi-
date before the people. But 1t is
too complicated au affair to readl'
ly reach the apprehension OF the
people, and as it necessitates con-
stitutional amendment there is not
mucn likelihood ofits securing the
two~thirds vote necessary to sc
cure its passage.
The question is one Of great and
even vital Importance, for so long
as the question Of deciding between
disputed electoral votes is let'
oren, tue safety and peace Of the
country will be jeopardized by
onnh recnrrinu nrnSidnntial cleo