
<p>Ending the Electoral College would be the end of American democracy – and Democrats want to do away with it. ; WHAT? ; Am I suggesting that allowing the popular vote to determine the outcome of a presidential election is Undemocratic in terms of the ; American Republic? ;  ;Yes.</p>



<p>In most elections, the Electoral College goes the way of the popular vote. ; It has only resulted in the election of a President who lost the popular vote five times out of 59 election cycles &#8212; and only twice in the past 138 years. ; It only happens when the election is very, very close. ; That is a small price to pay for all the benefits of the Electoral College in heading off a monumental and dangerous constitutional crisis every four years – and it is in those close elections when the College does its best work regardless of the popular vote.</p>



<p>The most important benefit of the Electoral College is that it settles close and controversial elections – avoiding a prolonged constitutional crisis as the various parties engage in endless recounts and protracted court cases. ; Without the Electoral College, the nation could – and would – go through prolonged periods without a President to take the reigns of government on Inauguration Day. ;</p>



<p>Would an incumbent President simply stay on the job? ; Would the candidate with the most votes on any given day assume presidential responsibilities? ; And would any action – Executive Orders, appointments, signing agreements, declaring war – be constitutionally valid without a duly elected, certified and inaugurated President? ;</p>



<p>We have never had a President who would not be inaugurated on Inauguration Day. The British invasion of Washington, the Civil War, Al Gore’s lawsuits, innumerable recounts and even Trump’s claims of vote fraud have never delayed the inauguration of a President. In every case, the Electoral College met on schedule and voted. That vote was overwhelmingly certified by Congress and the new President inaugurated on the designated Inauguration Day. The constitutional machinery set up by the Founders worked perfectly – thanks to the Electoral College.</p>



<p>The Bush/Gore contest was not settled by the Supreme Court. ; It was settled by the Electoral College. ; Gore lost his case before the Supreme Court, but the vote of the Electoral College made Bush the President – not the Court. ; Even the election of 1876 was not settled based on the popular vote, but in an agreement between Republicans and Democrats (The Compromise of 1877) over the Electoral College vote. After all the wrangling was done, it was the Electoral College that determined the winner.</p>



<p>Democrats proposing to eliminate the Electoral College should consider the 2020 presidential election. ; Legal challenges by the Trump campaign could have gone on for months and even years. ; Whether Trump won or lost the popular vote is academic. ; He lost the all-important Electoral College Vote. ; That settled the election.  ; ;Any of Trump’s objections after that were futile. ;</p>



<p>Biden won the vote of the Electoral College and that was it – game, set, match. ; Without the vote of the Electoral College, it is more than likely that there would be endless federal and state-based court cases &#8230; recounts &#8230; and more recounts. ; The popular vote would have been officially undecided for months after Inauguration Day. ; America could have been without a functional President for an indefinite period. ; The Electoral College is the reason America had a President to inaugurate on January 20, 2021.</p>



<p>Then there is the issue of minority protections. ; We often describe America as a Republic in which the majority rule BUT <strong>with minority protections. ; </strong>That concept of pure democracy may work in small towns and villages, but it can be lethal to the principles of a democratic republic. ; It is ironic, but true &#8230; when a majority can exert power without consideration to minority views and opinions, you wind up with authoritarianism. ; The federal system established by the Founders was carefully crafted to resist the ever-present danger of authoritarianism.</p>



<p>The second benefit of the Electoral College is that it prevents permanent domination by the larger states – with major urban population centers. ; The nine largest states have approximately the same population as the remaining 41 states and territories.</p>



<p>More importantly, 11 of the largest states have enough electoral votes to elect a President regardless of the vote in the remaining 39 states, the District of Columbia and territories.</p>



<p>The Electoral College forces candidates to campaign in more than a few states. ; This is especially true when the nation is divided and the vote for President is close.</p>



<p>You can see the potential problem in this past election. ; ; Trump carried 31 states (plus Maine’s second Congressional District).  ;Harris only 19 (plus the District of Columbia and Nebraska’s second Congressional District &#8212; and yet the popular vote margin between Trump and Harris was very close.</p>



<p>Illinois Senator Dick Durbin has been a longtime critic of the Electoral College. ; He tried to have it eliminated after the 2020 election. ; He said that the College hands “the presidency to candidates the majority of voters rejected.”</p>



<p>Officially, that is true, but the problem is not as egregious as it may seem for two reasons. ; While there is an official vote count, experts claim that the actual numbers are likely to be off by two to three percentage points. ; Just the natural result of human errors – and maybe some local vote fraud. ; That is why every time there is a recount the numbers change. ; ; In a close election, we can officially DETERMINE who really won the popular vote, but we cannot KNOW for sure.</p>



<p>Secondly, close elections never provide a clear indication of the will of the people. ; Whether it was Trump or Harris who won the last election, half the American people lost. ; Neither candidate represents the overwhelming will of the people. ; Closed races tend to diminish the importance and meaning of popular votes.</p>



<p>At this time, the calls for the elimination of the Electoral College are advanced as a political narrative with little chance of becoming a reality. ; For practical reasons, the effort to make the change is a non-starter. ; ; It would take the support of most states – and all those smaller states are not going to support a constitutional amendment to eliminate the Electoral College – and eliminate their influence and power.</p>



<p>The Electoral College is here to say. ; And that is a good thing.</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>

Eliminating the Electoral College would be a disaster.
