The General Election is less than three weeks away.  If you haven't already voted or are not yet registered, here are a few reminders straight from the PA.GOV website.

            The last day to register to vote before the General Election is Monday, Oct. 21.

            October 29 is the last day to apply for a mail-in or civilian absentee ballot.

            November 5 is the last day for the county election office to receive completed mail-in and civilian absentee ballots and they must be received by 8 p.m.

            The General Election is on Tuesday, November 5.

            Tuesday, November 12 is the last day for the county election office to receive completed military and overseas absentee ballots (submitted for delivery no later than 11:59 p.m. on November 4).

            Make sure to take the time to take care of the tasks you need to do.

            Remember that every vote counts.

            Speaking of every vote counts, there is controversy on Capitol Hill and among some candidates and voters regarding "every vote counts" and the purpose of the Electoral College.

            We know that the Electoral College decides who will be elected president and vice president of the U.S. The Electoral College is not a place, it is a process that includes the selection of electors, a meeting of electors who cast votes for the president and vice president, and the counting of the electors' votes by Congress.

            The U.S. Constitution created the Electoral College to ensure that each state has a role in selecting the president, no matter its population. Each state has the same number of electoral votes as it has members of Congress. There are a total of 538 votes in the Electoral College. A candidate must win a simple majority, 270 electoral votes, to win the election.

            The Electoral College is composed of a group of citizens known as electors. Electors are chosen during their state's primary election to cast their Electoral College votes for U.S. president and vice president on behalf of that state's voters.

            Pennsylvania has 19 electoral votes. All 19 of Pennsylvania's electoral votes go to the candidates for U.S. president and vice president who win the popular vote in Pennsylvania.

            When you cast your vote for president, you are telling your state's electors to cast their votes for the candidate you select.

            Harry Roth, Director of Outreach for Save Our States, explained, "The allocation of electoral votes is based on the census and is equal to a state's number of representatives and senators in Congress. For example, California gets 55 electoral votes while Wyoming gets 3. The beauty of this system is that it gives an advantage to larger states while still allowing smaller states to have a voice in electing our chief executive. What could be fairer than that?

            "Less populated states like Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Missouri produce food and energy for the country. While they have smaller populations, those people and their states still matter. Under a national popular vote system, the people in those states could effectively be disenfranchised. Presidential candidates would ignore them in favor of densely populated urban areas and giant media markets, which also tend to be in the biggest states, like California and New York."

            Under that design, all the federal spending could end up going to the more populated areas to keep the votes coming in while small-town and rural areas may be left to the crumbs off the table.