There are 538 electoral votes allotted to the 50 states based on their populations. The votes are cast in a winner-take-all fashion - if you win California by 1% vote, you win all of California's electoral votes.

Our recent presidential election was decided only by a few states. Politicians can ignore much of the country without an issue. States like Texas are considered 'Red' States are ignored by both Republcians and Democrats because they will have a majority of Republican voters. In Florida, the difference between the candidates came down to 0.7% vote. All of Florida's electoral votes went to the winning candidate, leaving almost half of the state not represented.

We are taught that our votes count, but unless you are in 'Swing States', an individual's vote has little weight. Some propose to abandon the Electoral College, but this would allow candidates to campaign only in large cities, while those in rural areas would lose their representation. Some want the electoral votes cast for the popular vote winner, but this creates the same problem. Our President-Elect, Mr. Trump, has voiced his distaste with the Electoral College.

But what if the votes were cast on a proportional basis. Take my state of Texas, for example, with 38 electoral votes. Trump won 53% of the vote - 53% of 38 votes is 20. Hillary won 43%, and would earn 16 votes. Gary Johnson would receive 1 vote. Now all voters are represented, including those voting for third-party candidates and we don't lose our power as a highly populous state.

States have the power to choose how their electoral votes are allotted. Please encourage your State representatives to consider abandoning the winner-take-all electoral voting system.