The Electoral College Has Done America Proud
Today, each state political party nominates a group of potential Electors who pledge to support the party’s presidential candidate. If the party’s presidential candidate wins the statewide vote, all of that party’s nominees become Electors. Two states—Maine and Nebraska—are exceptions; in those states, one elector is elected from each congressional district and the remaining two are elected based on the statewide vote.
If the purpose of government is liberty and justice, the Electoral College has done America proud. The system moderates our politics and protects minority rights. If the purpose of government is simply enforcing the will of the majority, the Electoral College is in question.
An Electoral College tie in 1800 and lack of a majority in 1824 left it to the House of Representatives to elect Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams, respectively. The House also settled a dispute over electors in 1876, giving victory to Rutherford B. Hayes against a possible popular vote majority for Samuel J. Tilden. In 1888 and again in 2000, the Electoral College winner had slightly fewer popular votes than his opponent, though neither candidate received a majority of the total votes cast.
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This country prides itself in the right it gives people to speak up and speak out with unfavorable opinions. With the electoral college, however, it becomes useless to speak out against the overwhelming majority in a state. I live in hard blue Massachusetts, where a majority in just about every county votes Democratic when given a choice. Sometimes, I disagree with my community, but what value does that disagreement hold to the nation? Zilcho.
The electoral college shuts down the voices of those who think differently, and those who go against the grain. Those are the very people we honor as founders and heroes of this great country, and the electoral system is a great insult to them all.