To the Editor:

“As American as Apple Pie? The Rural Vote’s Disproportionate Slice of Power,” by Emily Badger (The Upshot, Nov. 21), made a good case for considering American democracy not only as venerably old, but also as an antique, in desperate need of updates and repair.

I don’t mind so much that the small states have disproportional political and voting power, thanks to the two senators for states large and small. What I do resent is that the Electoral College, except for Maine and Nebraska, is a state-by-state winner-take-all, rather than being divided up proportionally. Proportionality would at least be the approximation of a direct presidential election. It requires no constitutional amendment.

There would be no more swing states, and no more “wasted votes”; there would no longer be blue and red states, only shades-of-purple states. We are not as divided as it seems from looking at the winner-take-all red and blue electoral map.

I am disgusted with the American election process. Living in a non-swing state, I vote only to drive up the popular vote for my candidate, knowing full well that I will have zero effect on who wins or loses.