Electoral College defies democratic principles

The election is over and Donald Trump will be the 45th president. Democrats argue that Hillary Clinton won the national popular vote; thus, the Electoral College should be eliminated. Republicans, because their guy won, defend the Electoral College claiming it works exactly as our Founding Fathers intended. Partisanship rears its ugly head again.

It’s time for us to look at the Electoral College through a non-partisan lens. We should evaluate it on its merits. Ask yourself a simple question. Do you believe that your neighbor’s vote should count more than your vote? Surely not. But that’s exactly what the Electoral College does. It says that a person’s vote should be weighted based upon where you live. If you live in a rural, less populated state, then your vote should count more than someone living in an urban, highly populated state.

Clearly, this violates the democratic principle of one person, one vote. Each person’s vote should be weighted exactly the same. Additionally, the Electoral College ignores the more than four million Americans living in the American territories. These Americans pay federal taxes and can be drafted if necessary, but have no say in who should be their president. Anyone remember the Revolutionary era slogan “no taxation without representation”?

When we remove partisanship, and take an objective look at the issue, one can clearly see that eliminating the Electoral College is the most democratic and inclusive step that we can take as a nation. This should drive our decision-making, not partisanship.

This story was originally published January 5, 2017 at 7:53 PM with the headline "Electoral College defies democratic principles."