‘American Idol’ fine model for presidential elections

by J Scott Christianson, Columbia Daily Tribune Columnist

Despite recent comparisons, there is a big difference between electing the next American Idol and electing the president of the United States. When people vote in the “American Idol” contest, every vote counts equally, and whoever gets the most votes wins. Unfortunately, those principles don’t hold true in presidential elections.

Our electoral college system skews the presidential vote in some weird ways. First, not everyone’s vote counts equally. Votes in…