The Electoral College undermines democracy

In a democratic country, if Candidate A leads Candidate B by more than one million votes, Candidate A should be declared the winner by a wide margin.

That is not what happened in this year’s presidential election. It is because of the antiquated Electoral College, which has a twisted and troubling history.

When the Founding Fathers created it in the 18th century, it was based on the assumption that people living in one state, such as Georgia, would not know much about a candidate from far away, such as New Hampshire, when communication was not of today’s standard. That evolved into the 12th Amendment.

Some unpleasant truths are described in an article, “The Troubling Reason the Electoral College Exists,” at Time.com. In this century two out of five times (in 2000 and 2016), the winner of the popular vote lost the election. That means 40 percent of the time in this century the winner of popular vote lost. That should be unacceptable to the American public, regardless of party affiliation.

Georgia introduced a county unit system in 1917, presumably based on the Electoral College. It was abolished in 1962 when the Supreme Court struck it down. Since then, all 50 states elect their governors based on popular vote - but not the president.

Another unfair consequence of this system is that voters in battleground states have more power to elect the president than in non-battleground states. This year, voters in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin elected the president. In 2000, it was Florida. In 2004, Ohio played a crucial role.

Currently, the battleground states number only about 10 or 11. They are Florida; Pennsylvania; Ohio; Michigan; Wisconsin; Iowa; Colorado; Nevada; and New Hampshire. North Carolina has voted for a Democrat only once since 1976 while Minnesota has been in the Democratic column since 1972.

The remaining 38 to 40 states do not matter nearly as much when it comes to the outcome of presidential elections.

It is about time we get rid of the Electoral College and level the playing field.

The writer is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus for Coastal Carolina University.

This story was originally published November 18, 2016 at 8:37 AM with the headline "The Electoral College undermines democracy."