48°
The public meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 12, at the Croton Free Library, 171 Cleveland Drive.
Interest in the way the Electoral College works, and how it affects the outcome of races, has been revived in the wake of a presidential battle where the person who had handily walked away with the popular vote is not the one who will be taking office on Friday, Jan. 20.
According to media reports, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, a Chappaqua resident since the late 1990s, received almost 2.9 million popular votes than Bedford billionaire Donald J. Trump did.
According to the final tally from all 50 states and the District of Columbia as reported by cnn.com, the Democrat outpaced her Republican rival by 65,844,954 (48.2 percent) to 62,979,879 (46.1 percent).
That gave her a lead over her rival that was greater than that of 10 previous U.S. presidents, media reports said.
But the former first lady lost the Electoral College, conceding her 232 electoral votes to Trump, whose final tally was 306, media reports said.
Galef said she has received “an incredible amount of emails” on the topic.
Folks mostly seem interested in knowing about efforts being made by certain states to either establish a National Popular Vote or to do away with the Electoral College all together.
It’s become a topic of heated watercooler conversations “no matter what party platforms they agree with,” Galef said, adding: “As an influential part of our national government election system, the Electoral College is worthy of our study and attention.”
Panelists taking part in Thursday’s discussion are: Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz, D-Bronx, the sponsor of the state’s National Popular Vote Bill; Hendrik Hertzberg, a political analyst for The New Yorker, and a board member of FairVote.org.
FairVote.org, formerly called Citizens for Proportional Representative, Center for Voting and Democracy, is a nonprofit organization that advocates for electoral reform.
Galef encouraged all residents to take part in what promises, she said, to “be an informative conversation about the proposed changes to our electoral process.”
The library can be reached by calling (914) 271-6612.
To read the cnn.com story, click here.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Putnam and receive free news updates.
