The Demise of the Electoral College is Long Overdue

I’m writing this before the Tuesday election so that it is clear that my viewpoint was not colored by the results. 

It is ridiculous that a national election in our Republic is not decided on the basis of “one-man, one-vote” but rather on a majority vote in the Electoral College established by Article II of the U.S. Constitution. 

In 1787, the former colonies were distinct entities very aware – and protective – of their status as sovereign states.  But for the Constitutional Convention meeting in Philadelphia that summer, it was obvious that the failures of the Articles of Confederation mandated that the individual states surrender some of that sovereignty if the United States were too survive as a nation. 

So the States agreed to a grand compromise.  Each, regardless of population size, received two votes in the U.S. Senate and was given House of Representatives and Electoral College votes geared to their respective numbers, with extra votes granted to slave-holding states as part of the compromise. 

Since then, Americans have evolved into citizens of a nation instead of being, primarily, residents of sovereign states.

The outcome of the Civil War made clear, after all, that sovereignty for states was not to be equated with independence.  And the 17^th Amendment of 1913, requiring the direct election of U.S. Senators, eliminated the role of state legislatures as a local electoral college of sorts.

My point is not that states’ rights or federalism should be jettisoned as Constitutional precepts.  Rather, we should recognize that a vote for a national office should be treated equally with every other regardless of the state within which it is cast. 

Why are we absorbed with “swing state” polls?  Because the votes of undecided voters matter there matter much more than those cast in California or Kansas.  As a practical matter, a Romney vote in the former is as worthless as an Obama ballot in the latter. 

That’s simply not right.  More than fairness is involved.  The national unity, such as it is, will be subjected to further assault.  Although I surely approved of the outcome, Gore’s capture of the popular vote, but the Electoral College loss to Bush, understandably infuriated the Democrat’s supporters.  And it is highly likely that the bitterness that ensued contributed mightily to the hostility that they felt toward the Bush Administration.

As a partisan, I want Mitt Romney to win on Tuesday, popular vote or not.  But as a citizen, I won’t be happy with a popular vote loss.  That won’t be a fair and square victory.  I fear such a result will be bad for the country even considering that President Obama’s defeat in the Electoral College would also be very good for the country.