As a voting citizen, have you ever experienced the “hollowness” that comes from knowing absolutely that your ballot in the presidential election does not matter? Rep. Les AuCoin, D-Ore. applied that term in describing the plight of hundreds of thousands of westerners who have “suffered a systematic devaluation of their votes” because of early television network projections of the election winner. AuCoin’s proposed bill to correct the problem brings a long-standing controversy to the fore again. it mandates a partial change in the voting timetable while, in his words, avoiding a First Amendment confrontation. The influence of television projections has been addrwsed in legislation introduced in the 87th, 88th, 90th. 91st, 92d, 93d, 94th, 95th, and 96th Congresses. Twice the Senate passed measures to make projections more difficult; the House did not go along. Thus the quation still remains: Aren’t westerners entitled to vote before the electronic media announce the apparent presidential victor? You’ll recall that in 1990 President Carter conceded long before the polls closed in the western time belt. In 1972, two networks projected Richard Nixon the winner by 6 p.m. Pacific time, and countless citizens were discouaraged from voting. Only 14.6 percent of the ballots were cast in the Pacific Zone after the projections in 1972, whereas in 1974. with no presidential race to be decided or projected, the after 6 p.m. Pacific Zone turnout rose to l9.2 percent of the total. A high CBS official told AuCoin last April that a network study estimated 14 percent of the registered voters had heard the early projections in 1980 “but only 3 percent said they did not vote” because of the projections of Carter’s early concession. “Does it bother CBS.” asked AuCoin in a recent Congressional Record statement, “that 3 percent of the voters were deprived of the right to cast a meaningful vote? Three percent of the turnout in the five rnostinfluenced western states amounted to 359,l75.” That could be a conservatlve figure. A Field Institute survey estimated more than 400.000 registered California voters did not cast ballots because of early projections or the concession speech. What do Americans in general think about election projectlons? One indication came from a Los Angeles Times poll in November 1900, quoted by AuCoin. The poll showed that nationwide, 71 percent of the respondents said broadcasters should not project a presidential winner until all polls are closed across the country. We agree. AuCoin’s new bill would require that presidential results be withheld until ll p.m. Eastern Standard Time. All polls would be closed by that hour, leaving the decision as to when the polls open, and a possible closure rior to 11 p.m. EST. in the hands of the states. Congress should encourage other bills on the subject and debate the best features of all proposed measures. Changes need apply only to presidential-vice presidential races. decided natlmally. Solving that problem automatically would correct the voting lag as it currently spills over to state and local contests in the West. In our preoccupation with fairness here in America we go to great lengths. such as barring the pu lic from a pretrial hearing to protect an accused person from prejudicial disclosures. Shouldn’t it offend this same sense of fairness when our present election setup allows the devaluation of votes in part of the country? . Congress should find the best possible solution and put it into effect well before the 1984 presidential election rolls around.