Time to vote. Ballots are here. We are about to fill them out carefully, sign them carefully (although Wisconsin does not do signature matching), have them witnessed carefully (by each other, and signed by the witness), seal them up in the official envelope, and then place them, carefully, in the election drop box at city hall.

Next step— make sure everyone in the known universe (with at least half a brain) does the same. It’s a simple choice between representative democracy and totalitarian dictatorship.

Here’s my latest “You Make The Call:”

Electoral College

Pop Quiz

(Do your best, but don’t worry, your answers might not count anyway.)

1. The Electoral College was thought up at the Constitutional Convention to appease the big eastern states.

A. True

B. False

C. Not sure

2. How many Electoral College votes does it take to win the presidential election?

A. 250

B. 270

C. 295

D. 300

3. How many candidates have lost the majority of the popular vote but still ended up being president?

A. 3

B. 4

C. 5

D. 6

(Extra credit if you can name them. Send in your answer to get a chance at winning
a secret decoder ring—no boxtops necessary.)

4. The Electoral College favors voters in small and rural states.

A. True

B. False

C. Not sure

5. Wyoming gets one Electoral College vote for roughly every 160,000 residents. California gets one Electoral College vote for roughly every ______________ residents.

A. 560,000

B. 625,000

C. 715,000

6. Wisconsin gets ________ Electoral College votes.

A. 6

B. 8

C. 10

D. 12

7. The Electoral College is racist in that it dilutes the votes of African-Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans (who tend to live in cities and more populous states).

A. Agree

B. Disagree

C. Not sure

8. Trump could lose the popular vote by three to four percentage points and still have a chance of winning reelection.

A. True

B. False

C. Not sure

9. A presidential election decided by the popular vote might help to improve our rancid politics.

A. Agree

B. Disagree

C. Not sure

10. Theoretically, a Republican Party with the incentive to compete for votes in California and New York because of a national popular vote, might be less tempted by white nationalism.

A. Agree

B. Disagree

C. Not sure

11. A majority of Americans favor dumping the Electoral College.

A. Yes

B. No

C. Not sure

12. In 1969, the House of Representatives passed a constitutional amendment to establish a national popular vote for the White House. Nixon called it “a thoroughly acceptable reform,” but a filibuster backed by segregationist Southerners in the Senate killed it.

A. True

B. False

C. Not sure

13. A way to bypass the Electoral College and render it meaningless is something called the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.

A. True

B. False

C. Not sure

14. Fifteen states and the District of Columbia have passed bills pledging to support the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.

A. True

B. False

C. Not sure

15. On April 25, 2019, the National Popular Vote bill was introduced in Wisconsin but because of Republican opposition it has not passed.

A. True

B. False

C. Not sure