Dear Editor,
I have heard and read a lot
about the Electoral College system and its problems, especially in the last few
weeks. In my opinion this system might have some advantages, but the present
disadvantages are too much and important to continue the Electoral College
system. The last presidential election also influences my opinion, which became
a disaster.
The reason why the
framers of the Constitution introduced this system was that people did not have
any kind of media to inform themselves about the candidates in the up-coming
election. This has changed, because in today's world, there are many different
ways, such as the newspaper, radio, TV, and Internet, to find out whether I
agree or disagree with the candidate and his party. That means if you lived 200
years ago, this kind of election was a good solution for former day's
conditions.
The other problem
is that the people do not elect their American President, but about 500
selected electors. This fact is the opposite of the idea of a democracy based
on human rights. Although people have the right to vote, they do not elect the
President; they elect electors to vote for them. There are many examples of
election showing that a candidate can win the presidency even if he does not
have more popular vote than his opponent does. That was the case when
Rutherford Hayes won the election. He had 4, 034, 311 votes more and won the
election. Another example was the presidential election in 1988; President
Grover Cleveland won 5, 534, 488 popular votes, 90, 596 more than his
Republican opponent Benjamin Harrison did. However, Harrison received 233
electoral votes to Cleveland's 168, and so became the 23rd
President.
In any
presidential election, it is possible that the House of Representatives decides
the content. This happened only twice, but in several other elections,
especially in 1912, 1924, 1948, and 1968, a strong third-party bid had
threatened to make it impossible for either party candidate to win a majority
in the Electoral College. In addition, a third party with a majority would make
it more difficult to pass laws in the U.S. Congress.
I think popular
vote is much closer to the idea of what the Founding Fathers tried to achieve
in former times than the Electoral College. That system needs a change and
replacement by popular vote. I do not say that it was senseless in the past.
However if conditions change, we must go with them.
Sincerely
