Tuesday, October 4, 2022

Electing our Presidents by the Popular Vote

I understand the push to elect Presidents through the popular vote.  I disagree with it, but I understand why they want this.  (Actually small states lose out, October 3)

I find it noteworthy that they are not attempting to reform the system through a Constitutional Amendment.  That would show whether the country as a whole was in favor of the idea. 

There is, however, one fatal flaw in their plan.  Fatal in the sense that they are willing to break the core principles of democracy in order to save it, or, to get what they want.

Under our current electoral system, voters essentially are voting for electors, not the President himself.  These electors have all agreed to vote for a particular candidate if he wins.

Under this new proposal, if the voters of a state chose the candidate with fewer overall votes than the other candidate, the state would then nullify all their votes and accept all the electors of the losing candidate.

I’m sorry, but that is simply wrong.

UNLESS

Every election, on that same ballot, you will need to ask the voters if they will agree to that.  Then you have that right.  But to get so many states to agree to this, and then allow this system to perpetuate forever is absurd and contrary to every principle of democracy they claim to uphold.