The Electoral College is the key to the integrity of our country

It seems that my appreciation for the genius of our founding fathers only increases with time.

I am writing this before I know the outcome of the election. I sit behind a “veil of ignorance” and do not know in advance who will win the popular vote and who will win the Electoral College.

We have a growing movement to replace the Electoral College with a winner-take-all, nationwide popular vote. This is supported by some influential voices on both sides of the political spectrum.

But there are so many reasons why the unique presidential election system is so important to our republic. And thankfully we are a republic – not a majoritarian/mob-rule “democracy.”

WHAT IS THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE? HOW DOES IT WORK?

Here's a quick civics lesson on the wisdom of the Electoral College.

First of all: We are a confederation of states. The power of the federal government comes from the states and the people. Washington is not the center of the universe. In America, power is distributed across the country. New York and Washington do not rule our country – even if they think they do.

The Electoral College allocates power to each state – and ensures state primacy. It is crucial to our federal system. America is unique in the world for its system of checks and balances, decentralized government and protection of minority rights.

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Without the Electoral College, eight to ten large states would decide the election. California has a larger population than nine small states combined. But California, for all its virtues, is far from representative of our diverse country.

Would any candidate care about voters in Nebraska, New Hampshire, Nevada, Maine, Alaska or Iowa, given that California has more voters than all the others combined? They wouldn't even bother ever going to those states, but instead would seek out every little voice in Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago and the Bronx.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA – OCTOBER 15: Signs direct people where to go to cast their vote on the first day of early voting at Atlanta Metropolitan State College on October 15, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. Early voting takes place from October 15th to November 1st before Election Day on November 5th. (Photo by Megan Varner/Getty Images) (Megan Varner/Getty Images)

Second, the Electoral College drastically limits voter fraud. The incentive to participate in massive illegal election programs in major cities (red and blue) would be enormous and uncontrollable. On election day, the cemeteries would be full of voters. Under current election rules, the gains made from stuffing ballot boxes in deep red and deep blue areas are restricted. But in a statewide popular vote, even a few hundred thousand illegal ballots in major cities would result in every voter in North and South Dakota being completely disenfranchised.

Stolen elections could become the rule, not the exception.

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Some complain that the system is anti-democratic because there have been elections in which the candidate who won the majority of votes did not win the election. I would argue that these occasional results only make the Electoral College more indispensable to keeping our country intact. The system is not perfect and something needs to be done to address the risks of “faithful voters” that could change the outcome of the election.

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But just like in tennis, where the player with the most points doesn't always win the game, the current voting rules help protect our democracy, not undermine it.

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