Case to Abolish The Electoral College
If you live in California (a blue state) or Utah (a red state) your vote has no effect on the outcome of the election. You can vote either way. It won’t make any difference. In contrast, if you live in a swing/battleground state, such as Florida, your vote can, in theory, flip the entire election. Everybody’s vote should count equally, no matter where they live. There should be no especially electorally privileged Americans.
In 2000 and again in 2016 the electoral college vote (the official vote) anointed one candidate, where the popular vote selected another, creating huge resentments. The president should be the one wanted by the most Americans, the popular vote.
Why is there an electoral college? Three reasons:
~ Roedy (1948-02-04 age:70)
- In former times, people tended to vote for favourite sons. The electoral college was intended to stop the largest state from always picking the president.
- The founding fathers were not nearly as enthusiastic about democracy as we are now. They felt a layer of indirection with the electoral college could block wrong-headed popular enthusiasms. The electoral college members are not required by law to elect the presidential candidate the people voted him to represent.
- By the number of electoral votes assigned to a state, it gives more or less weight than the state would get naturally by population. The was a non-obvious political tool to rig the elections.