From: Nancy Hoover
Columbus
Why do we have the Electoral College?
During the past few months, two people took to social media to school me on the purposes of the Electoral College. Apparently, neither of these folks has made the effort to read beyond outdated high school civics textbooks to attempt to discover the history of the development of this strange institution and choose to accept what they see on the surface. Why does the United States of America join Burundi, Estonia, India, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Myanmar, Pakistan, Trinidad, Tobago, and Vanuatu in this practice? And why is the Electoral College in the news as we count down to the 2024 presidential election?
The publicly stated reason for the Electoral College is, of course, to prevent states with larger populations from controlling national elections simply because more people live there, i.e., state-based federalism. Good idea, right? However, might there be other reasons for the Electoral College? “One Founding-era argument for the Electoral College stemmed from the fact that ordinary Americans across a vast continent would lack sufficient information to choose directly and intelligently among leading presidential candidates” (Amar, A, Time, 10/29/20). Nice.
But mostly there’s slavery. James Madison pointed out that the Northern states were more densely populated than the Southern ones because many Southerners (slaves) could not vote. The northern states were largely opposed to slavery and thus posed a danger to this vile practice upon which the economy of the South depended. So, yes, the Electoral College does balance the impacts of more densely populated areas of the country with the less populated ones. Is it possible, however, the actual reasons behind the creation of this institution are not as lofty as fairness to the populace?
By the way, the Constitutional framers addressed the problem of Southern population by declaring that each slave was equal to 3/5 of a person! How generous of them!
My point? Of course, make up your own minds about the efficacy of the Electoral College. But please, please, do a little research to support opinions. Please look beyond what you are fed on social media or television. As Thomas Jefferson pointed out, an educated citizenry is a vital requisite to our survival as a free people. Being educated in America was difficult for many in the late 1700s. But today? Please, do your homework.
