How America can Graduate from the Electoral College
It’s time to move on from the Electoral College by signing the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact
The Basics
Though never mentioned directly by name in the Constitution of the United States of America, the Electoral College is an institution where the President and Vice President are chosen by electors, not a popular vote. The Constitution states:
Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
The President and Vice President of the United States is elected by representatives, called electors, instead of by popular vote. Originally the Constitution instructed that the President was elected by a majority of electors and the person receiving the second most votes would be Vice President. The writers of the Constitution assumed that it would be rare that a person would receive a majority of votes, and when that happened, the House of Representatives chose the President and the Senate chose the Vice President. The founders also assumed the electors would be chosen for each district by direct election and these electors would institute independent judgement when voting. After the original constitution, the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution provided that each elector would cast separate ballots for President and Vice President, creating the joint ticket we know today.
The Constitution left up to the states how the electors were chosen and how they would vote and the states were split from the beginning. Some states provided that electors would be chosen at the district level, some enacted a “winner-take-all” approach where one candidate would get all of the electors for that state and still others had the state legislatures choose the electors. Currently, electors are chosen based on which political party receives the most votes in a state and are expected to cast votes all of the state’s allotted electoral votes for those candidates.
The Electoral College has raised many issues but can only be removed by an Amendment to the United States Constitution, an unlikely event. These problems require innovative solutions to change how the elections work and alleviate some of the problems presented by this system.
The Problem
When the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution, the biggest concern was a tyrannical government being formed. The United States was formed as the result of oppression from Monarchy and those writing the Constitution knew this was the biggest threat to democracy. The founders seem to have established the Electoral College as a compromise between the Parliamentary system (where the parliament elects the head of government, prime minister) and direct election by popular vote. This was another check and balance against tyranny from the head of government and arguments for this system are that it gives power to smaller states safeguarding against elections of autocrats or monarchs.
One of the biggest criticisms of the electoral college is that the process is undemocratic, meaning the elected official does not reflect the will of the people. Since the founding of the nation, five presidential elections have resulted where the winner of the popular vote lost the electoral college. The most recent is the 2016 election. Many have expressed outrage that the person receiving the most votes was not elected and therefore not representative of the people. This seems undemocratic and may cause more division in the government than necessary. However, the electoral college was designed to prevent tyranny and so far no tyrants have been elected as President.
The winner-take-all nature of the electoral process has contributed to polarization. Both major political parties have excluded the possibility for other parties, unique opinions, new ideas and extreme views to gain a foothold in the election process. Voting for other parties can be viewed as “throwing away votes” as voting for third party candidates can prevent one of the two party candidates from being elected.
The elector process further casts states into “red” or “blue” extremes based on the likelihood of voting for a Republican or Democratic candidate. This creates a false dichotomy and the illusion of unity where most states have a large number of voters for both political parties. Every presidential election now focuses on swing states and exclusively on swing states. There are a handful of these states with a relatively large number of electoral votes that can push an election in one direction. Instead of going red or blue, these purples states are more closely balanced than other states. Focusing exclusively on ten or so states means that candidates don’t visit or go after votes in other states. This can lead to disenfranchisement of voters and marginalization of minority groups. Every year, California’s electoral votes are cast for the Democrat candidate, but there are a large number of Republican voters, who may be different from Southern or Midwest Republican voters. These voters don’t have a strong incentive to cast votes for a Presidential candidate because they consider their votes “don’t count.” This all or nothing strategy silences voices from both sides in parts of the country where they are the minority. These voters may have different, moderate or better ideas than other voters, but their votes aren’t courted during the election process.
Polarization, underrepresentation, marginalization and disenfranchisement are more a threat to our democracy than tyranny these days.
The Solution
Elimination of the Electoral College requires an amendment to the Constitution and this process requires approval of both the House and the Senate and approval of three-fourths of the state legislatures. Amendments have been proposed in the past but have not succeeded. It’s unlikely that this will be a viable solution.
Fortunately, the states are able to choose how to a lot their electoral votes. Currently, the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact has been ratified in several states around the country that change the electoral votes so that they are awarded based on the nationwide (as opposed to statewide) popular vote. This compact doesn’t go into effect until there are enough states that have ratified the compact that equal a majority, 270 electoral votes or more. Once the number of states adding up to a majority of electoral votes have approved this system, it won’t matter that the other states have not approved the compact. This means that highly populous states can pass this much more easily than a constitutional amendment.
So far, this law has been enacted in states totaling 165 electoral votes (10 states and the District of Columbia) and is pending in states adding up to an additional 117 votes. Only ratification by these 10 more states is enacted to solve these problems.
Next Steps
If you’re convinced that the problems invoked by the 200 year old Electoral College do not outweigh the benefits, investigate whether your state has passed this legislation, is considering it or has not started this process. Check out Fairvote.org for more information and to get involved in these changes.
Talk to your state legislators about this option to eliminate swing states and polarization. Let’s take the red and blue off of the maps and discuss the country as individual voters, not two homogenous blocs. If you’re in a swing state, imagine not being bombarded with all of the political ads in the country. If you’re not in a swing state, imagine you and all of the people in your state having an equal say in the presidency. This solution is very real and achievable, but requires the support of everyone to get this passed.▪️
If you liked this, please click the 💚 to encourage others to read it. Sign up at Tiny Letter to have This Charming Rant delivered directly to your inbox.
