Nedza: While not perfect, Electoral College is fair

The Electoral College was designed at the time of the writing of the Constitution to give the more rural/less populated states a fair shake in their governance, and I believe that, over the years, it has performed that role admirably.”

Frank Nedza is a resident of Harrington.

I feel I must correct Mr. Joshua Holzer’s opening statement in his recent Opinion piece, “No country but US uses an electoral college.” His opening statement, “The United States is the only democracy in the world where a presidential candidate can get the most popular votes and still lose the election,” is incorrect, as the United States is a democratic republic and not a direct democracy. This is a common — and becoming ever more common — misconception amongst the populace. The evidence is everywhere, if you choose to look. In our Pledge of Allegiance: “And to the republic for which it stands.” In quotes from the Founding Fathers: “A republic, if you can keep it,” from Benjamin Franklin, in response to Elizabeth Willing Powel’s question, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” asked during the period of the constitutional convention in 1787. It is clear from “The Federalist Papers,” too, that at least some of the Founding Fathers were convinced that a direct democracy would be the antithesis of what they were trying to establish and would lead to heavily populated states dominating those with a more rural populace. Even then, amazingly enough, the Founders understood that there were, and remain, significant differences in the values, morals and desires of city and country dwellers that would quickly be swallowed up by a direct democracy. In the years leading up to the constitutional convention, James Madison, having spent a considerable amount of time reading about failed democracies of years past, was convinced that allowing our fledgling republic to become a direct democracy would soon result in mob rule. At any rate, our Founding Fathers were convinced that taking the route to a direct democracy would be a mistake. The solution was the creation of the Electoral College.

The Electoral College was designed at the time of the writing of the Constitution to give the more rural/less populated states a fair shake in their governance, and I believe that, over the years, it has performed that role admirably — a testament to the classical wisdom of our Founders.

Is the Electoral College perfect? No, it is not, nor is any creation of man. That said, it is wise to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good — in this case, the creation of a yet-unnamed utopian version of voting “fairness” instead of a system which has been proven over centuries to work.

Put another way, why should the residents of Montana, Idaho, North Dakota or any of the less populous states be completely dominated by the residents of Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, New York City or Seattle?

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