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Former Stanford University professor John Koza.breaks down the mathematics behind a popular-vote-driven electoral college.
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-- to courts -- lot of -- that wanted Al Gore for president in 2000 that we're there were mad about the of the bush presidency.
All the way through his presidency of haunted him.
Because gore won the popular vote so you go back -- you look at that and in you symbol how we gonna get this changed.
How do you change this do you do you need congress to do this well it turns out the founders and gave the control over presidential elections exclusively -- the -- so this winner take all rule which we think should be changed.
Is actually only a state law it's not in the constitution so you have to go to every state capital and and and lobby the legislature's there.
We have built in all fifty states.
We've past nine states into law.
How we -- -- a Republican controlled senate new York and one house in twelve other states have Arkansas Connecticut Delaware and so forth.
So we go one by one through the 7400.
State legislators in the country.
And asked them to use their power that they -- -- have under the constitution.
To improve the way we elect the president would -- what are you getting and are you getting any push back.
All sure we get pushed back actually nurtures their biggest enemy we're hoping that this election where.
Four -- five Americans are left out will remind people that the system is flawed regardless of how what the outcome -- You're right near a computer guy you were co-founder of us Scientific Games.
You -- computer consulting professor at Stanford view war.
Worked on -- some of the early genetic programming using complex problem so -- -- is this just.
Is this what attracted you to this was just the the math.
Didn't work out.
Well let's I've always been fascinated with how complicated.
The winner take all rule makes -- it presidential election that I didn't.
Did a board game in the sixties when I was in college based on the super all the complication that comes from not having a simple.
A -- of people where the -- with the most votes wins.
Well when you when you go through this process though.
Didn't pick -- I presume you went back -- and found out how it started with our founding father guess what was there were the ones who came up with this idea and they -- the ones like you said they gave it to the states but.
They why did they come up with popular vote I've heard the story that said that people weren't informed back in the seventeen under.
Well they may not have been informed they cut constitutional convention was very good but divided they couldn't agree on a way to elect the president so they turned the matter over to the states.
And the -- we have today isn't.
It was not created by the founders.
There were only three states that use the winner take all rule in the first election in 1789.
And they all repealed it by 18100.
If it came in about four decades later.
So it's not the invention of the founders -- it was the jostling of the states before the civil war that led to.
To the system because none of the states want to have.
The minority party in their state represented.
In their State's electoral vote hence the winner take all.
And that's what creates this situation we have today where.
Four -- five Americans are left out what are your chances of getting this done by the next in the next four years before the next election well we certainly hope this the selection will focus attention on it.
We have.
Nine states of an active this they represent about a quarter of the people of the country.
And when we get states representing a majority the people of country we can put our law into effect perfect.
John -- -- thank you quarterly -- thank you appreciate them.
