The Real Reason the Electoral College Is Relevant

The framers of the Constitution did not intend a full-fledged democracy as most think since Senators were elected not by popular vote until the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed in 1913. Senators were appointed by the state legislatures till then. The United States was envisioned by a republic that would represent the people equally and equitably. Congress was not really a full-time job till the twentieth century. It was only in operation a few months of year since most had other things to do back home like run a business or work in their profession.

In a nutshell, the Electoral College was designed so a few big states didn't control all states by sheer voting numbers. It is also the reason why every state has two Senators as well. Their reasoning is that small states would get no say in legislation akin to the Kingship they abhorred in England. The framers wanted ALL voices heard not just the loudest.

Based upon population and the census, the Electoral College votes of any given state are determined by the number of people residing in that state. Every ten years it can change and change drastically. But, rather than a fixed amount, the framers did have the foresight to see change as the Constitution is referred to as a living document. It has been changed over the years but not drastically proving how carefully they crafted the benchmark of our country.

The only controversy about the Electoral College is when the popular vote is won by the loser. Only four times has a presidential candidate lost the popular vote but won the election. All but one were in the 1800s. In 2000, Al Gore got 51,003,926 votes (48.4%) to Bush's 50,460,110 (47.9%) (1). Ralph Nader actually cost Gore the Electoral College by getting 2,883,105 (2.7%) of the votes hurting his chances (1). Bush won Florida by a mere 537 votes (2) after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the recounts were over and Bush had won the state. Had Nader's 97,421 votes in Florida went for Gore, as they probably would have, Gore would have won Florida (2). Since neither candidate could get more than 50% of the popular vote, there was no mandate by the votes really. Gore's popular vote win was really generated by a few big blue states.

The Electors of your state have to vote with the popular vote since the the Supreme Court in 1952 (Ray v. Blair, 343 U.S. 214) required electors pledge their vote for the winning candidate.

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