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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 12, 2019)
A4 THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, ApRIL 12, 2019 OPINION editor@dailyastorian.com KARI BORGEN publisher JIM VAN NOSTRAND Editor Founded in 1873 JEREMY FELDMAN Circulation Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN production Manager CARL EARL Systems Manager PRO-CON Should Congress make Electoral College more responsive to national popular vote? AP Photo/David Zalubowski Voters cast their ballots Nov. 6, 2018 in Denver. Colorado’s Democrat-controlled Legislature has approved a bill to join other states in casting their presidential electoral votes for the winner of the national popular vote. PRO: Change or abolish Electoral College to ensure equal voice for all CON: Electoral College protects Americans against ‘tyranny of majority’ W D ASHINGTON — The time has tion where enormous governing power come to change or dismantle is concentrated, through the executive the Electoral College system of branch and the Senate’s power in shap- ing the makeup of the judicial branch, selecting the United States president. This outdated result of a constitutional in favor of the minority — not only for compromise sets up not only a system that the term of the executive but perhaps for can produce an imbalance between the pop- generations. ular vote and the final selection of the pres- While many may believe, in the cur- ident, but can result in a dramatic disparity rent political climate, that a move to alter or abolish the Electoral College only ben- in governing power for a generation. The original intent of the Electoral Col- efits or should matter to urban voters and lege was to get smaller states to ratify the residents of large populous states, quite Constitution in a time before the United the opposite is true. States was anything remotely resembling Yes, the current political climate and the United States today: when only a small recent electoral examples make the Elec- toral College system seem to number of states existed, when only favor Republicans or conserva- white men had the right to vote and tives and more rural areas while before the popular vote was even enraging Democrats, progressives recorded. A goal of ensuring that smaller and urban voters. But it could states have adequate represen- foreseeably also swing in the tation is important. Majorities other direction with the right mix Don should not have unchecked ability of election results. Kusler to impose their will just as each This could allow a small num- ber of populous states to then con- branch of government — the judi- centrate power over a majority not cial, legislative and executive — should be checked and held in balance by only of other states but population and election results as well. the other two. The way that the legislative branch is The current system also encourages set up already achieves the goal of bal- presidential candidates to concentrate ancing power among states of varying their campaigning and by extension their population, most notably through the legislative and policy attention on a small United States Senate where each state has number of states with larger numbers of equal representation in the upper cham- electoral votes, which negatively impacts ber. The House of Representatives, con- a wide range of regions and ideological versely, allocates representation based on groupings. population. There are several efforts underway Another balancing effect is that the to correct this from the most direct, Senate also has enormous power in shap- which is to amend the Constitution, to ing not only legislation but shaping the the more indirect like the National Pop- ular Vote Interstate Compact, which is judicial branch and in approving key an agreement between states to award executive branch administration leaders. their Electoral College votes to the This gives smaller states a healthy voice winner of the national popular vote not- in shaping our government. But when the Electoral College system withstanding the outcome in their indi- produces a presidency without a majority vidual states. Regardless of whether you live in a of popular votes, this balance can become small state or populous one, whether you decidedly imbalanced. Imagine a scenario where the execu- are conservative or progressive, the out- dated Electoral College system can cre- tive branch is led by someone who did not receive a majority of the popular vote ate an imbalance of power that could negatively impact your life and needs to and the Senate is controlled by ideolog- ical allies of the executive branch repre- change. senting states whose population is less Don Kusler is national director of than the population represented by those Americans for Democratic Action, an states in the Senate minority. organization committed to liberal politics This scenario would produce a situa- and policies. ALLAS — The Electoral College is catering to the most-populated states and largest cities, rather than traveling to thinly one of the most critical institutions created by the framers of the Consti- populated rural areas. tution to ensure a stable representative gov- But doesn’t the Electoral College distort the popular will? No, not really. ernment, yet it’s under attack. The Electoral College vote has gener- Eliminating or effectively neutering the ally reflected the popular vote. Since 1900 Electoral College — the two options being there have only been two presidential elec- proposed by many Democrats — would tions, 2000 and 2016, in which the loser fundamentally alter the country, which, of course, is exactly what progressives are hop- had slightly more votes than the winner. ing to do. This would be grievously wrong. Democrats lost in both instances, which is why they want to change the system. Let’s start with the basics of our Ameri- can system, which is, by design, unlike any They want presidential elections based other. on the popular vote, but that sometimes States, not individuals, are the original isn’t the majority. Several presidential can- didates won with a plurality of source of power. The states — 13 of votes rather than a majority, includ- them, anyway — created the federal ing John F. Kennedy, Richard government. Nixon and Bill Clinton — twice. Less-populated states were It was the Electoral College understandably concerned they vote that legitimized their victo- would be overshadowed by the ries, even though they didn’t win a larger ones, so they demanded pro- tections within the Constitution. Merrill majority of votes. Matthews Giving every state, regardless of Fortunately, only a constitu- tional amendment can change the size, two senators was one of those Electoral College. And the framers protections. The Electoral College made that process very difficult, again in an was another. effort to limit the majority’s ability to ride Both concessions were intended to pro- tect the minority against what is sometimes roughshod over the minority. So Democrats are pushing a workaround referred to as the “tyranny of the major- ity,” the concern that in a pure democ- known as the National Popular Vote Com- racy the majority can do whatever it wants, pact. NPVC legislation requires a state’s regardless of how badly it might harm the electors to vote for whoever wins the minority. national popular vote. According to the National Conference of The framers did their best to create a State Legislators, 13 states plus the District representative political system that min- imized the potential for a tyranny of the of Columbia — all of which currently are majority. They largely achieved their goal, blue — with a total of 184 electoral votes, though progressives have been success- have passed NPVC legislation. fully chipping away at those protections for However, it doesn’t go into effect until decades. states representing the 270 electoral votes Because the states created the federal needed to win a presidential election have government, the Constitution gives the joined the NPVC. states, not individuals, the right to choose As for me, if my state of Texas votes the president. Thus the states decide how overwhelmingly for a particular candi- date, I want my state’s electors supporting their electors are chosen and function. that candidate, not someone who won in The Electoral College is a feature, not a bug, because it helps ensure that every state another state. For more than 200 years the Constitution matters. and the government it created have served For example, California, with 55 elec- toral votes, has more people than the 21 as a model for stability and representative smallest states combined. Yet those 21 government. Do we really want to under- states have a combined total of 92 electoral mine that success story just so Democrats votes — more than a third of the total votes can win a presidential election? Merrill Matthews is a resident scholar needed to win. with the Institute of policy Innovation, a Under a majority-wins election, candi- dates would spend most of their time in and research-based public policy think-tank.
