There are a couple of petitions circling around the internet attempting to gain enough signatures to force the electoral college to elect either Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton when they cast their ballots later in December. As big of a Bernie Sanders supporter that I was and am (I am still super proud that I cast my vote for him in the primary election), I do not support these petitions.
There is an argument that could be made that since Hillary won the popular vote by about 2.2 million, she should be the president of the United States of America. This argument is not a bad one at all (I sort of agree with it to a certain extent) and I would much rather have a President Clinton, as crooked as she is, than a President Trump, who is far more crooked (the man admitted to not paying his taxes for crying out loud). However, I was able to do what many of Hillary’s starkest supporters were not able to do: I accepted the fact that Donald Trump will be the 45th President. I didn’t make excuse like “Jill Stein and her supporters screwed her over” (because she earned less that 0.2% of the vote and it is factually incorrect). Perhaps if the DNC didn’t hold closed primaries and didn’t screw Bernie over, we would probably not be in the shitty situation we are currently in. By I ain’t living with the ghost! Why dwell on the past?
The Electoral College should not elect Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders when they vote later this month because neither of them won the majority of the electors. History lesson! The Electoral College was created for two reasons:
1. Communication hadn’t peeked yet in the 1700s and it was easier and more feasible to count votes and cast them by region rather than count each individual vote.
2. Our founding fathers didn’t want big cities (such as Philadelphia or New York) to run everything politically.
With that being said, in the twenty-first century communication has evolved a little since then, making reason #1 obsolete. Also, to live in a true democracy, we should be one person, one vote, regardless of whether or not the one casting the vote lives in a big city or out in the sticks. That takes out #2. So what other reason do we still have the Electoral College? Because it has always been there! Is it undemocratic? Sure, but it is tradition and that will remain to be the Republican’s reasoning for keeping it in place. Well I say, screw your tradition! It is undemocratic and if we wish to live in a democratic society (even though we technically live in a republic), we must do away with systems of super delegates and electors based solely on the grounds that it is undemocratic. One person, one vote…that is democratic.
So while I am in favor of abolishing the Electoral College, I think that the electors should carry on with their votes for Donald Trump in this election. The reason? Because it wasn’t abolished for the election. You don’t get to change the rules after the fact because you didn’t like the outcome. It is what it is. But allow me to propose a few questions: Why now are the Democrats railing against the Electoral College? Why didn’t they do it sooner? If Hillary Clinton had won the Electoral College vote, would they be pushing to abolish the Electoral College so hard? Let me rephrase that. If Hillary Clinton had won the Electoral College vote but Donald Trump won the popular vote, would they really want to abolish the Electoral College? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that Democrats are finally on the right side of this issue, but the reasons behind it throws up a series of red flags for me. Could it be because it is what best fits their narrative? Probably.
