Electoral College Gives Equal Voice to Small States
The founding fathers did not want a parliament, and they did not want a democracy. A concern of the founding fathers regarding a democracy was that emotion and passion could rule the day resulting in mob rule. The founders wanted reason and law to rule the day.
The founders did not want a parliament because the leader and parliament are equal. They wanted the leader to be separate but equal to the elected representatives providing a check and balance.
The founders wanted a Representative Republic and the Electoral College is a critical part of this. In the Electoral College system, the voters vote for electors, and the founders wanted these electors to be property owners because they had something to lose.
How many electors does each state get? Total electors for each state are equal to its two senators and the number of representatives assigned. This system was designed to force presidents to pay equal attention to the least populated state. The founders also believed in the concept of federalism. The founders believed that the Electoral College would enforce the sharing of power between states and a national government preserving states’ rights.
The Socialists leading today’s Democratic Party want to silence you. They say the popular vote is the only fair way. Like a MOB or a spoiled child anytime they do not get their way they throw a tantrum and yell that it’s not fair. They did not like it when George Bush the younger defeated Al Gore and said it was not fair and exclaimed the same when Trump crushed Clinton.
They are just not happy when something does not go their way. Remember what President Obama said, “We want to fundamentally change America.” To get their way they seek to destroy the fabric of the nation. They feel legitimized when they demonize the Christian Religion. They hate the U. S. Constitution and claim that it is outdated and written by old white men.
The latest target for the liberals is the Electoral College. How the Electoral College is put together and how it works is described in the US Constitution under Article II, Section 1 and in the Twelfth Amendment.
Do you know why the founding fathers of this country instituted the Electoral College? The founders did not want a direct popular vote; a concern was that the most populist states would control the vote. Another concern was that individual voters might not have sufficient information to elect a president so electors are what we are actually voting for on Election Day. Some suggested that Congress should select the president but the concern was that that might compromise checks and balances. Other ideas discussed were that each state would cast a single vote but the more populated states opposed that. In 1887 the Connecticut compromise was adopted.
The most populated states like Virginia wanted to count everyone to include slaves, but the less populated states were opposed to that, so part of the Connecticut Compromise was to agree to count slaves as 3/5 of a person. In several states free slaves could vote, and in some states only land owners could vote. Counting a slave had nothing to do with evil; it was simply a compromise to give fewer votes to slave states which had more people than less populated free states. The founders were very concerned with preserving states’ rights.
The founding fathers were always concerned with larger states or populated areas having greater voice than less populated areas. This is why each state has two senators, giving equal voice to low population Wyoming and high population California. Another concern was that direct popular vote might see a president elected that is more devoted to those regions that elected the president rather than the entire United States — for example, more dedicated to California and New York than Wisconsin, Iowa or Nebraska.
Detractors point to the faults of the founding fathers as reasons to get rid of the U.S. Constitution and the Electoral College. Founders were white, and they were Christian, therefore they were evil, like all of the other white European Christian countries colonizing around the world.
Now, let’s get back to 2016 — Clinton had more popular votes. Who won the most counties in 2016? I will use numbers from the Associated Press: Trump won 2,626 and Clinton 487 counties. Put another way: Trump won 30 States and Clinton 20. In 2016 Trump had 304 Electoral College votes to Clinton’s 228.
Discuss this with your friends, neighbors and family. Remember the founders designed a Representative Republic not a Democracy or a Parliament. The system continues to work as designed.
“All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.” Thomas Jefferson
Jefferson understood that the purpose of law was to protect the individual, as it was the smallest of minorities. While admitting that majority rule may take place, he also knew any new legislation must be reasonable; otherwise law would simply become oppression. The Electoral College assures a reasonable outcome and not oppression by the MOB.