What Do Computer Science, Board Games And The Electoral College Have To Do With One Another? John Koza Can Tell You.

By Jenny Friedland
Presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., at an organizing event in February. Warren says she wants to get rid of the Electoral College, and vote for president using a national popular vote.
Presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., at an organizing event in February. Warren says she wants to get rid of the Electoral College, and vote for president using a national popular vote.
Presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., at an organizing event in February. Warren says she wants to get rid of the Electoral College, and vote for president using a national popular vote.
Presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., at an organizing event in February. Warren says she wants to get rid of the Electoral College, and vote for president using a national popular vote.

What Do Computer Science, Board Games And The Electoral College Have To Do With One Another? John Koza Can Tell You.

By Jenny Friedland
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As a graduate student ​in the mid-1960s, John Koza created a board game about the electoral college. It did not take off. But decades later, his National Popular Vote legislation is gaining steam. States that adopt the legislation agree to give their electoral college vote to whichever candidate wins the national popular vote, though the legislation would not take effect until enacted by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes — 270, to be exact. Koza argues that in addition to ensuring that the candidate who wins the national popular vote takes presidential office, the legislation he developed would encourage candidates to campaign in more states, as all Americans’ votes would have equal value.

Last month, Colorado became the twelfth state to adopt Koza’s legislation, joining the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. So far, 181 electors belong to states in the compact. Koza is a former professor of computer science, co-inventor of the scratch-off lottery ticket and author of Every Vote Equal: A State-Based Plan for Electing the President by National Popular Vote. He joins Worldview to discuss how America can elect the winner of the national popular vote as president without amending the Constitution.