The Renewal Amendments: Electoral College

Something crazy happened on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of 2000. Al "Global Warming is at Fault for Everything" Gore received more votes for president than his opponent George W. "If You're Not with Me then You're My Enemy" Bush but lost the election. How did this happen? Well, Al couldn't win the correct states. That and G.W.'s attorneys argued better in court. I voted for G.W. So, I was happy with the results. It was my first presidential election that could vote and I was batting 1.000. 

After that election, people figured out that the election of the president is not as it seems. Well at least those who are not into politics. When I was in high school government class, we learned in order to win a candidate only needs to win the 11 most populated states by just one vote. I think it's still eleven, give or take a state. 

How does the electoral college work? Currently, the winner must recieve 270 electoral votes to win. Each state is assigned a number of electors based on how many representatives in the House of Representatives plus two for the number of senators for each state. D.C. which is not a state and does not have any voting representation in congress, has three electors. The electors though are not the actual reps or senators. When you go in and waste your vote on a Republican or Democrat (my third party rant for today), you are actually voting for the electors who agree to vote for the guy that recieved your vote. There are those out there that believe we should amend the Constituion to eliminate the electoral college. Others want to keep it. They are both wrong.

Our government is designed to distribute power. We are not a democracy. We are not a republic. We are not a monarch. We are not an oligarchy. We are all of those combined. So to those who want a direct vote for a president, I'd say that we already have democratic elements in our government. For those who want to keep the college the same, I'd say that it seems stupid that one person could become president because they could get one more vote in just a little more than 1/5 of the states.

 What is the solution? I look to Maine and Nebraska. While all other states and D.C. are winner take all states, these two will split their electors. They use the congressional districts and then give the two "senator" electors to the winner of the state. 

This is a good system to keep the presidential election as an indirect vote. It also gives the individual more power. There is also the option of giving the electors based on proportional representation. This means if one candidate gets 51% in a state that has three electors, they would get 2 votes and the "loser" would get 1 elector vote. The one problem with an amendment that takes away the power of states to make election rules is that hurts federalism. 

To lessen the blow to federalism, the amendment needs to allow for the states to decide how to allow its citizens to choose the electors as long as it is not a winner take all state.

The framers quickly devised the electoral plan. This has left it to us to fix the system. It is not difficult but it won't be easy.