Hey all,

Just thought some of you might be interested in my Letter to the Editor, which was published in this morning's Atlanta Constitution:

Electoral College is only valid measure

Assuming that George W. Bush keeps the electoral win, we'll be hearing that Gore's popular vote victory means that he was America's choice for president. That is totally bogus.

The campaign strategies, allocation of resources, turnout efforts and advertising were highly targeted because of the Electoral College system. But, if the election had been held under a popular vote system, different strategies would have been used [edited out: and the final numbers would have been different].

Voters in lopsided states might have turned out in even greater intensity, since every vote in those states would count just as much as anyone else's. Battleground states would give way to a battleground nation. Overall voter turnout would likely be higher.

The campaigns were strategized and voters motivated under the Electoral College rules.

Therefore, for this election, the electoral vote is the only valid measurement of America's choice.

David Stevenson
Stevenson, of Doraville, is a computer consultant.