We must get rid of the Electoral College.

We must get rid of the Electoral College. We must move past this archaic piece of the constitution and elect via the popular vote. We must do this to ensure the future of our democracy.

But why?

Let’s look at who is making these claims. They are almost entirely coming from members of the left and Democratic party. Why would they want this? The simple answer is it would ensure their victory and therefore power in our Presidential elections. It’s about power to be clear. If the shoes were on the other foot, and you are honest with yourselves, you must acknowledge they would not take this stance.

What is the Electoral College? Well the first thing you must understand is that we are not and never have been a true democracy. Any student of political systems can explain that a true democracy cannot work. The United States is a federal constitutional republic. Our founders put an incredible amount of thought into the power structure of our federal government and wanted to ensure that power was divided at the federal level and divided amongst the States. They wanted to ensure that tyranny was kept at bay.

Tyranny? A true popular vote would allow 51% to rule over 49%. The large population centers would consistently elect our President and he or she would only ever have to campaign there and worry about their interests. This would eliminate the interests of all but a few States.

Enter the Electoral College. When we actually vote for President we actually vote for our States slate of Electors. If our State goes red then our State will send it’s Republican Electors to the true Presidential Election which occurs in December. If on the other hand our State goes blue then they will send their slate of Democratic Electors. You are voting for the interests of your State and States can change from red to blue and vice versa over time. For this reason we have “swing States” and candidates must campaign in many States around the country in order to listen to and address the concerns of voters everywhere. Again, if on the other hand we elected our President via the popular vote, candidates would only need to campaign in Los Angeles, New York, Houston, Chicago, etc. and the needs of the rest of the country would need not be addressed.

To go a step further with fairness our federal government is split into three separate branches, the Legislative, Judicial, and Executive (our President). To be fair to places with larger populations we have the House of Representatives where States send Representatives to congress based on their population. To balance this and perform a check on the House and the President we have the Senate where each State gets only two Senators. They serve longer terms than even the President and are elected in cycles of 1/3 at a time. They are called the “Voice of the States”. These are all things we could go deeper into in another discussion.

It is an incredibly well thought out system to ensure power is spread and shared amongst all Americans.

To sum up the argument against getting rid of the Electoral College just imagine a true democracy without these checks and balances. The 51% could elect a single leader over the interests on the 49%. This could quickly turn tyrannical. In an extreme example the 49% could be imprisoned or stripped of their rights. In the following election, if there was one, be sure that those remaining 51% would be split on issues and the new 51% of that original 51% would elect a leader over the remaining 49% of that original 51%. The cycle of tyranny could quickly spin out of control and the country in question could dissolve into chaos.

The people making these demands are banking on the fact that you are not educated on your own government and how it functions to ensure liberty and that in the end your interests can and will be heard.