Questions about the voting system in USA

[LochnarITB]

How can a election system be fair and good, were people vote “a few” at a time, and were they are told what the result of previous people voting are?

As I began to read Jarulf's post, my thoughts were based on the national vote conducted in November. As I read further, I realized he was asking about our current primaries. However, his question and the discussion that followed raise a couple points that apply to the national vote and the inequity that is built into the electoral college system.

Because of the media circus that is an election (both national and local), we have the exit poll which gives a very real feel for how the vote is going. This can influence the vote. It can be for the good. It has the potential to motivate those who would not otherwise vote to do so in a close race where they have a greater sense that their vote makes a difference. It can also discourage voters who think "Oh, he's way ahead. He doesn't need my vote." or "Geez, he's way ahead. My vote wouldn't matter." With my view of human nature, I tend to believe that to discourage voting is the more likely result of the exit poll.

The inequity in the electoral college is the way in which the number of votes per state is assigned. Unless I have misunderstood, the number per state is equal to the number of Senators plus the number of Representatives. This means that less populace states have greater representation, per person, in the electoral college vote. The numbers I found for the 2000 election range from about 200,000 people per vote on the low end to greater than 600,000 on the high. This means that a vote in the smaller state is worth 3 times that of the largest.

With the communications capabilities we now enjoy, it is time that we establish a system that is truly 1 person 1 vote. The party system would still go through the primaries and convention process they do now to bring the ballot down to a reasonable list. This would also require that the voting population become more informed to give the increased value of each vote its due. I believe that voters would take more effort to be informed if there weren't so many who believe "my vote doesn't matter".