The Electoral College: Why Do We Have It?

The results of the 2016 election have caused quite a heated debate regarding the need and the want of the electoral college system we use today. Many people feel that when it comes to electing our new leader for the next four years we should use only popular vote because one vote equals one vote right? While there is certainly reason to support keeping it as well as ditching it I think it would be best to understand what it is, why we have it, and how it works before we start going down the path of trying to get rid of it... again.

What is the Electoral College?

The Electoral College is abodyofelectorschosenbythevotersineachstatetoelectthe presidentandvicepresidentofthe United States. The Electoral College consists of 538 electors of which 270 are needed to have a majority and qualify a candidate to presidency. Each state is given electors based on its number of representatives in congress. To further break that down for each state one elector is granted per each member in the House of Representatives plus two electors per each member in the Senate. That's the reason California has 55 electoral votes at stake while Pennsylvania only has 20. In a representative republic (not democratic) country such as The United States of America this system actually makes a lot of sense and follows the pattern of electing representatives for the general populace in government affairs instead of having a popular vote for everything.

Why do we have it?

There is a lot of speculation as to why we have this system in which some feel it creates an unequal value for votes in different states. While some think that it was for a malicious cause from what we currently know about our founding fathers that's not the case. Plus, the Electoral College helps even the playing field between high population areas and low population areas so every one has a voice.

One of the main reasons we don't have a popular vote system is because the founding fathers feared true democracy. They feared if a group or faction of people with common interests became a majority they could violate others human rights or be harmful to our nation as a whole. This was dubbed as "the tyranny of the majority" by Alexis de Tocqueville. James Madison's solution to this problem was "A republic, by which I mean a government in which the scheme of representation takes place, opens a different prospect, and promises the cure for which we are seeking.” As Alexander Hamilton wrote in "The Federalist Papers" the Constitution was made to make sure “that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications.” The Electoral College is meant to preserve the will of the people while making sure that the president is picked "by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station, and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation, and to a judicious combination of all the reasons and inducements which were proper to govern their choice.”

In current times the Electoral College is more of an official procedure. Many electors are loyal to the specific party that selected them and in 26 states there are laws or pledges to prohibit electors from deviating from the way that their state voted. Still, there are very rare occasions where electors will change their vote.

To better explain the "tyranny of the majority" let's say you live in a community of people where many don't have cars. You and a few others do but you are in a minority. One day the people without cars (the majority) decide that the minorities cars should be taken from those who own them and used as public transport instead even though you worked for and earned that car. In a democracy the majority could easily do this regardless of what you felt. This is one of the major flaws in a democracy which allows anything as long as the majority agrees with it.

In most cases an electoral college win also comes with a popular vote majority. However, the system was designed to allow a secondary means of electing a president in case the majority were to ever become malicious.

Another good reason for having an electoral college system is due to how people live their lives and where. People in big cities or highly populated states such as California and New York are not going to have the same experience of life as someone living in Kansas or Arizona. It's obvious that a majority of United States citizens live in big cities compared to out in the planes and they will live very different lives. In a popular vote system a majority of voters would be oriented to a city like type of life compared the small number of those who live in what we call the "boonies". Just like I have no idea what it means to be a farmer it would be difficult for someone born and raised in the city to properly represent the views of people in small population/wide area communities.

How does the Electoral College work?

While the system may seem very convoluted and difficult to understand it's not to bad once you get into its basics. The Electoral College is made up of 538 different electors that are chosen to represent the general populace of a state during the presidential election. The reason we have 538 of them is directly connected to each states number of congressional representatives. Numbers of electors per state is based on one elector per House of Representative member and two electors per Senate member. Each state gets a maximum of two senators and the number of representatives is determined based off of population. This gives you a current total of 538 possible electoral votes. In order to win presidency one needs to gain 270, the majority, of those votes. That process happens every four years on a specific day between November 2nd and November 8th in which the general populace votes to determine how the electors of the Electoral College will vote. Most states use a "Winner Take All" system in which the winner takes every vote except for Maine and Nebraska which uses a proportional system to delegate votes based on the results of the general election in their states. Then on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December the electoral votes are cast. In 26 states the electors are bound by law to vote as the state voted but others can change their vote even though it is highly rare for this to happen. Finally, on January 6th the Congress assembles to count the electoral votes to officially name a winner in the presidential election who is inaugurated on January 20th.

So... Should we keep it or ditch it?

In all honesty that will be for the voters to decide. Because it is part of our Constitution it's a long and difficult process to remove it since the only way is to amend the Constitution. To do this is not easy and I will outline why as pulled directly from http://uspolitics.about.com/.

Step 1. Proposing An Amendment

Either Congress or the states can propose an amendment to the Constitution.

• Both houses of Congress must propose the amendment with a two-thirds vote. This is how all current amendments have been offered.
• Two-thirds of the state legislatures must call on Congress to hold a constitutional convention.

Step 2. Ratifying An Amendment

Regardless of how the amendment is proposed, it must be ratified by the States.

• Three-fourths of the state legislatures must approve of the amendment proposed by Congress, or
• Three-fourths of the states must approve the amendment via ratifying conventions. This method has only been used once, to repeal Prohibition with the 21st Amendment.

Is there a timeline for ratification? The US Supreme Court has held that ratification must happen within "some reasonable time after the proposal." Since the 18th Amendment was ratified, Congress has set a term of seven years for ratification.

If you're wondering why such a massive and long process is needed to do this it is to make sure without a doubt a mass majority of Americans want to go this direction with the country. Think of it as one massive fail-safe to protect fundamental rights in our constitution from being removed.