A Pennsylvania-based columnist named Dick Polman took the words right out of my mouth. He wrote the column I’ve been intending to write this year. I won’t use his words, but I will borrow some of his statistics. I agree with Mr. Polman. The electoral college needs to go away.
Like everyone else (I hope), I was introduced to the electoral college in a history or civics class. I learned that with few exceptions, the results of the electoral college in a presidential election basically reflected the popular vote.
This antiquated form of choosing our president dates back to the founding of our nation. It probably seemed like a good idea at the time. The electoral college was intended to ensure that less populous states would have more of a say in presidential elections. Each state gets 2 electoral votes, representing each of its U.S. Senators, but the disparity comes from the other legislative body.
The least populous states are entitled to one member of the U.S. House of Representatives. For instance, Wyoming, with a mere 581,000 residents, gets 3 electoral votes (2 Senators, 1 House member). That’s one for every 193,000 people.
Now let’s count the residents in a heavily populated state. Pennsylvania is home to 13 million people. Along with the 2 Senators, there are 17 House members, giving the state 19 electoral college votes. That’s one vote for every 684,000 people. Compare that with Wyoming in the preceding paragraph.
Just for pretend purposes, let’s say everybody in Wyoming voted for Candidate A. That person gets Wyoming’s 3 electoral votes. Meanwhile, everybody in Pennsylvania votes for Candidate B. That person gets Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes.
Pennsylvania has 20 times as many people as Wyoming, but only 6 times as many electoral votes. Maybe the founding fathers counted Wyoming’s coyotes.
Three times in the 1800s, the winner of the popular vote lost the presidency after falling short in the Electoral College. On each occasion, this was followed by complaints that soon faded away.
In the 1900s, there were no electoral college controversies. The system basically worked. In each of that century’s 25 presidential elections, the winner of the popular vote also won the electoral college vote.
Then came 2000, when the results of the election were up in the air for several weeks. Nationally, Vice President Al Gore got 543,000 more votes than Texas Governor George W. Bush. But mechanical failures in Florida, where the vote was close, triggered recounts and court battles that dragged on for weeks. Eventually the U.S. Supreme Court made a decision that awarded the presidency to Bush despite the fact that he lost the popular vote. Some Democrats were outraged, but most people believed the electoral college discrepancy would likely never happen again. They were wrong.
In 2016, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton defeated Republican Donald Trump by almost 3 million votes at the polls. But in the only election that really mattered, the electors representing the 50 states awarded Trump the presidency by a vote of 304 to 227. Needless to say, Democrats were outraged, while Republicans were pleased. But what if the shoe was on the other foot? It could happen in this year’s close election.
You may have noticed that this year’s presidential campaign is taking place in only 7 states: Pennsylvania, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Georgia.
On the day you are reading this column, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, Tim Walz and JD Vance are each likely in one of these 7 states. It is highly doubtful any of them are in the other 43. Is this any way to run an election?
Getting rid of the electoral college may be impossible. It would require a 2/3rds vote in both houses of Congress, followed by the ratification of 3/4ths of the states. It would obviously require widespread agreement of the two parties, and if one party believes the electoral college gives them an advantage, they won’t budge. This, even though polls show 65% of Americans are in favor of abolishing it.
So when the results are counted in November, be ready for anything. Just understand, the coyotes of Wyoming may have more clout than you do.
