Electoral College, here to stay

The Electoral College will not be abolished, and I say that with certainty. Sorry Gore voters, I know you all want to see that happen, even though he himself started to prepare you for the possibility he may lose the popular vote and win the electoral vote in the waning weeks of the 2000 election. Here’s why.

After the Revolution, we had to somehow develop a national government that was acceptable to 13 very independent colonies. This raised numerous problems, not the least of which was equal representation of the colonies. You see, the smaller colonies were very aware that by joining this new venture, they risked having law and policy dictated to them by larger states. This was one sticking point in the formation of an American government. Several compromises were worked out to alleviate this. In order to ensure that each state had enough say in the process to avoid large states lording their will over small states, the Senate became an institution where all states were equal in power, with each having two Senators a piece. In the House, with its proportional representation, the larger states have their venue with which to start legislation favorable to their situations.

The Presidency presented another problem. First, the Founding Fathers did not have designs on the Presidency being chosen by popular consensus, but they did not desire that the political entities in Congress have a say over the selection of President, either. They feared that a President selected by Congressmen would be beholden to the political whims of those who chose them. The Electoral College was a solution for all of this. The Electoral College put the selection of the President back into the hands of the states instead of the professional politicians in the capitol. Since the states were free to choose electors as they saw fit, it also somewhat insulated the process against corruption. With each state having an electoral vote equal to its representation in the Senate plus the House of Representatives, it also assuaged fears of small states and large states by giving each state a weighted but proportional number of electoral votes. So while, say, Rhode Island would not have as much say in a Presidential Election as a New York, they would not be absolutely steamrolled by the interests of New York, either. Keep in mind that each colony had a working, established government at that time, and most of the interests of citizens of each state were enacted through their state governments, with the national government looking over the interests of the whole.

What has happened since that time? Well, we’ve stopped looking at the world from state perspective, and more from a Federal Government perspective. While this country was designed to work at the most local level possible, it has been natural for eyes to go first to the Federal Government as we have become more and more enmeshed in the outside world. While the argument can and should be made that we ought to look first to our most local branch of government, the plain fact of the matter is we’ve made this transition. The problem with this is that most people no longer understand that their interests can be best protected and furthered through their states. In addition, the President is now chosen by the popular will of citizens. Early in the history of this country, many states did not have popular elections for President. Instead their state legislatures selected electors. We rapidly turned over to popular elections, but that wasn’t how the system was designed. Finally, people just don’t worry much about big states dominating their states anymore, which is a testament to the system.

Okay, now you’re asking yourself, I thought he was going to make the case for why the Electoral College won’t be abolished. He seems to have done the opposite. Well, we need the context of the past to understand what will happen next. Eventually, there will be a big push to abolish the Electoral College and to make the selection of the President a function of the popular vote. There are little efforts towards this almost every year or two, but they go nowhere, but at some point, this issue will reach a critical mass, and there will be a serious effort towards abolition. Here’s what’s going to happen, though. It is going to require a 2/3 majority of states to pass that amendment. Suddenly, every state with electoral representation of less than 15 is going to start opening their eyes to the old fear of small state vs. big state. Abolishing the Electoral College is not in the best interest of any small state, and those small states are going to come to realize they have more to lose than to gain by moving forward with this. Colorado may be the first state to realize this, with its initiative to assign its votes proportionally. If that initiative passes, Colorado will soon learn that it has ceded all influence in Presidential Elections. Because of this reawakening to the old argument of big state influence vs. small state influence, the 2/3 majority will never be reached. Unless we were to move to a point where we abolish states, the Electoral College will not be going away. It seems unfair, but it is probably a fairer system than the Senate, where a coalition of smaller states could block legislation, even though those Senators represent a minority of Americans. But because we do not see the “popular vote” behind the passage of legislation, it is an out of sight, out of mind concept.

My advice is to learn to love this quirk of the American system. Over time it will make you happy as much as it will piss you off. By pushing for its abolition, you are doing little more than pounding your head against a very hard wall.