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I disagree with the use of the electoral college for one reason. Even if voter turnout is low in a state with a large number of electoral votes, the candidate with the most votes in that state wins all of the votes for that state. Electoral votes are based on population, but if most of the residents of a state do not vote, what good does it do to represent the whole state if only one third of eligible voters actually vote?

Let's say that eleven million people in California vote in this years election. Also, let's say that Texas has a turnout of eleven and half million voters. The votes are split down the middle with the winning side taking each state by less than ten thousand votes. California's winner has 5,509,900 votes while the Texas winner has 5,759,900. Even though more voters voted for the Texas winner, the California winner receives 55 electoral votes, and the Texas winner receives 34 votes. So, in essence, 275,000 votes just basically went out the window and didn't make any difference in the national vote. That's just an example of what happens when electors vote the way they are supposed to. Majority rules.

The only problem is that it is not always true. Of the fifty states, twenty-one of those states do not obligate their electors by law to vote for the candidate for whom they were selected to vote for. Twenty-nine states do obligate their electors to vote for their candidate, but they don't discount the vote if it is cast against the popular vote. Punishment for the ones who are obligated may range from a misdemeanor and a small fine in some obligated states or a major felony conviction with prison time. In the past, electors have been willing to go against the popular vote and will do so again. I don't know if it has ever been enforced with a felony charge, but maybe the new President would pardon the elector if he won that state.

So, when I am told that every vote counts, it may or may not be true. I could be that one vote that breaks a tie, but the electoral vote is the vote that counts. If my elector decides he doesn't like the way the vote came out, he could vote the other way on a whim or just refuse to cast the vote at all.

When the electoral college was conceived, it served the purpose of one group of men traveling to the wherever the final vote was to be taken and placing votes for their state's voters. Phones, satellites, and computers did not exist, and so, the electoral college was the best solution for tallying the votes in a society that did not have instant communication between state governments.

In this day and age, we could go by popular vote if we wanted to. The only problem with that is as soon as you use a computer and make popular vote decide the winner, someone will find a way to fix the election. It's a challenge that a hacker somewhere won't be able to resist.

I guess in the end, nothing we do will be completely democratic unless we all go to Washington and have a show of hands.

Learn more about this author, Alan Richards.
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