Chelleology

On election night 2016, I was on my way to the Republican victory party and asking myself “If Donald Trump wins the Popular Vote and loses the Electoral College, would I still defend the Electoral College?”  My answer was a resounding YES!  That is how much I believe in and respect the Electoral College.

I live in a small, less populated state, without the Electoral College, voters in my state would never have a voice in the Presidential election.  Larger, more populated states like New York and California would determine who would be the President.  The Electoral College simply protects states like mine from being silenced by larger state in Presidential elections.

Our Founding Fathers were brilliant in that they believe that pure democracies could allow mob rule, so they created constitutional devices to protect minority interests and smaller states.  The Electoral College is one of those devices. 

The Electoral College requires Presidential Candidates to focus their campaign efforts in all states rather than just the more populated states.  That means the candidates must appeal to a wide group of voters and build coalitions in multiple states.  They must appeal to the banker in New York and the farmer in Nebraska in order to win the Presidency. 

Additionally, the Electoral College prevents the need for a nationwide recount when elections are extremely close.  Could you imagine having to do a country wide recount in 2000 when it was Bush vs. Gore?  A nationwide recount would complicate our elections and reduce the credibility of our president, neither of which we need in 2022.  The Electoral College brings simplicity and certainty in our elections.

According to Rachael Revesz’s article in The Independent “Five Presidential Nominees Who Won the Popular Vote but Lost the Election”, the winner of the popular vote has lost the Electoral College only six times in 227 years.  That’s enough to convince me that our Electoral College works.