Russ Moore: Providence Should Enact Electoral College

Russ Moore: Providence Should Enact Electoral College

The Mayor’s race in Providence provided us with a really good argument for enacting an Electoral College system to elect Mayors in the future. It would force candidates to spend their time equally in every neighborhood, regardless of its economic power. 

Each would be given equal weight in choosing the city’s chief executive officer, as opposed to the system we have now where one section of the city determines its fate.

Imagine, for a second, a situation in which a candidate cruises to victory in a mayoral election where the margins of victory were provided by massive turnout and victories in an area that comprises just 20-percent of the city. Then, on top of that, it just so happens that those portions of the city are also the most affluent parts of the city—where the people reside in brownstones, large townhouses, and in some cases, mansions.

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One doesn't need the imagination of J. R. R Tolkien to envision this scenario, because that’s precisely what happened in Providence last week. Not to take anything away from Mayor-elect Jorge Elorza, who ran a fantastic campaign comprised of expert staffers and driven volunteers. And yes, the Elorza campaign did an excellent job performing better than expected in other portions of the city. But the fact remains that he was thrust into office on the backing of primarily the city’s wealthiest residents.

The rich have spoken

Former Mayor Vincent “Buddy” Cianci won most of the wards comprised of lower income residents, whereas Elorza ran up daunting margins of victory in the wards where the city’s affluent residents live—the East Side. It’s hard to understate the drubbing Cianci took in the city’s wealthiest neighborhoods. The numbers are jaw-dropping.

In the Wards that comprise the East Side, Elorza garnered 7,818 votes. In those same three wards, 1, 2, and 3, Cianci received just 2,596 votes—giving Elorza an eye-popping victory of more than 5,222 votes.

For instance, in Wards 5,6,7, which comprised some of Cianci’s strongholds, he won by 1,175 with Elorza getting 3,127 votes and Cianci getting 4,302.

That means, in two areas, with identical population numbers, Cianci’s stronger area turned out just 7,429 votes whereas Elorza’s East Side stronghold turned out 10,414 votes. For every 10 people that voted on the East Side, just 7 people voted where Cianci was performing best, primarily in the North End of the City.

Number Crunching

Cianci won more Wards than Elorza. Cianci won 9 Wards, which included 4,5,6,7,8, 10, 11, 14, and 15. Elorza won 6 Wards, which included Wards 1, 2, 3, 9, 12, and 13.

Here’s the most important fact: take the East Side out of the equation, and Cianci wins by a comfortable margin of roughly 1,500 votes. Add the all-important wealthy East Side into the equation, and Cianci loses by an even more comfortable margin of roughly 2,700 votes.

There’s something inherently wrong and equitable about a system that allows a candidate to cater to and focus on just one portion of the city that comprises one-fifth of the population, and lose the majority of the Wards.

On the federal level, the USA uses the Electoral College to elect a President to prevent against allowing candidates to campaign solely in a few, well-populated areas. It’s a method of protecting certain sections of the country—Like New York City or Chicago—from having outsized power at the expense of the more rural portions of the country.

In the city of Providence, however, it would be even easier to setup an Electoral College system of electing a Mayor. That’s because each of the city’s Wards are broken up by population. The East Side Wards, despite having huge vote totals, have nearly identical populations to every other Ward in the city.

Under the scenario that occurred last week, Cianci would have been Providence's next mayor. That scenario, I might add, would have been more fair and equitable to all of the portions of the city.

Focus on Wards

In the election last week, had Providence used an Electoral College system of selecting a mayor, Cianci would have won a decisive victory of 9-6. (If, by chance, in an election, no candidate won a majority of the wards, the city could move to a runoff system.)

It’s no secret that wealthier people vote in much greater numbers than their poorer counterparts. Studies have shown that wealthy citizens are about 30 percent more likely to vote than their less affluent counterparts. That was exactly the case in Providence this year.

There’s a reason that the city has Wards. Were it not for the Ward system, the city council would be comprised of mostly of rich people from the East Side of the city. Instead, the Ward system gives the city a more diverse city council makeup, and we’re all better off for it.

Since that system works well for the city council, why doesn’t the city use the same type of system to elect a mayor? If Elorza is as concerned with good government as he claims to be, he should enact a charter commission to propose a change to the way the Mayor is selected.

Russell Moore, a lifelong Rhode Islander, has worked on both sides of the desk in Rhode Island media, in both newspapers and on political campaigns. Follow him on twitter @russmoore713.