Opinions
December 2O2O
THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE With claims of voter fraud and a slew of lawsuits, the election of 2020 was one for the history books. As ballots were counted––and recounted––the election was decided by a slim margin of only a couple hundred thousand votes in a few key states. Yet, despite this close result and heavy contentions from the opposition, in reality, Joe Biden won the popular vote over Donald Trump by nearly 5 million votes. No lawsuit can change the fact that he was clearly the candidate favored by the American people. That this election was as close as it was in spite of this margin reveals a clear flaw in our democracy: the Electoral College. The Electoral College, as established in the Constitution, is the formal body that elects the President and Vice President of the United States. Among other reasons, it was created by our Founding Fathers out of fear of mob rule and in an attempt to consolidate power among an elite few. Our founders didn’t trust the masses to make an informed decision re-
garding the President and determined that it was best to leave the decision to an educated group of electors appointed by the states and given the power to vote independently. However, this process has become antiquated for several reasons. In the late 1700s, it might be true that many people lacked the information needed to make an informed decision. But the nationalization of political parties and widespread access to the internet has eliminated the need for electors to make decisions for an uneducated populace. The vast majority of Americans have access to a variety of information at their fingertips or at least have a decent idea about what the candidate stands for, and the thought that they cannot make an educated decision is an insulting one. Moreover, these electors are no longer independent of the states. Over time, the majority of states have enacted “winner-take-all” policies, in which each elector in a state votes in accordance with the results of their state’s pop-
ular vote. In fact, 33 states have passed laws punishing “faithless electors” who act contrary to this popular vote. In the other states, electors are not technically required to act how their state wishes, but still rarely act against it––only 165 people have as of 2016––as these electors are nominated in the first place by whichever party wins the popular vote in a particular state. The constitutionality of these laws punishing faithless electors was challenged, but they were upheld in a unanimous decision by the Supreme Court last July. Essentially, while the practice of being a “faithless elector” is still legal, the court ruled that states have the right to punish these electors, preventing our flawed system from becoming any worse. Maine and Nebraska are exceptions to this winner-take-all system. They’ve adopted what is known as the “district method” in which electoral votes can potentially be divided among candidates. In these states, two votes
2020 ELECTION: THE BREAKDOWN states that have ratified the NPVIC states that have not ratified the NPVIC General Election Campaign Event by a 2O2O Presidential Candidate
Electoral Votes Under the NPVIC
196
27O for the NPVIC to take effect
