Ending the electoral college benefits the Republican Party
Republicans have much to gain on the popular vote
The world watched the American elections in disbelief. How could such an important event be decided by a few thousand votes? It is weird for anyone outside the United States to understand how one can both argue in favor of democracy and hold the fate of the nation in something different than the choice of the majority of the people. But that’s the American system and its electoral college.
The electoral college is an institution built as America became independent and the first modern democracy in the world. Being America the first democratic system in a large country, it was hard to campaign around the country, and it was even harder to make general elections. The solution was to make local communities choose representatives that would themselves attend the presidential election.
If it was a solution for another time, when communications and transportation were scarce and difficult, the Electoral college holds another feature of its origins. By being set on the community’s demographics, it is unbalanced among states. As one can see from the electoral distribution map, the most populated states are underrepresented in the election.
