I’m sure you have all been seeing the info graphs and memes and long-winded rants on social media, not to mention the so-called unbiased news organizations trying to explain why we need the Electoral College.

Frankly, I’m tired of hearing people close to me try to explain the Electoral College with more memes and expecting that to settle it. So, I started looking it up because no matter how many ways you explain it, I still don’t see how popular vote doesn’t actually reveal who the people really want to represent them.

(Disclaimer: this is not a Pro-Clinton-Let’s-Flip-The-Electoral-College-Vote blog. This is explaining why we have the Electoral College and what possible purpose it serves today.)

“The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President. Your state’s entitled allotment of electors equals the number of members in its Congressional delegation: one for each member in the House of Representatives plus two for your Senators” (U.S. Archives).

Most states’ designated electors vote for whomever won that state’s votes. So, if the Republican candidate won the majority of votes in Alabama, then when the Electoral College voted, the Republican presidential candidate would be guaranteed Alabama’s nine electoral votes.

There is nothing in the Constitution mandating these electors to vote according to the state’s popular vote or according to their party. However, “it is rare for Electors to disregard the popular vote by casting their electoral vote for someone other than their party’s candidate. Electors generally hold a leadership position in their party or were chosen to recognize years of loyal service to the party. Throughout our history as a nation, more than 99 percent of Electors have voted as pledged” (U.S. Archives).

This means that we, the people, don’t even elect the electors in the Electoral College, yet they essentially decide for us who the next President of the United States is going to be.

When people say their votes don’t count in a presidential election, they’re right and wrong. When you vote for a presidential candidate, you’re really voting for that candidate’s party, not necessarily the candidate themselves.

So, if you’re like me, and don’t like voting by party, but base your decision on the actual person and their policies, well…. you can see why I don’t understand why we still have the Electoral College.

The founding fathers of the Constitution went through a few ideas before they decided on a committee of sorts inspired by the Roman Republic, which they called the Electoral College.

“The original idea was for the most knowledgeable and informed individuals from each State to select the president based solely on merit and without regard to State of origin or political party” (U.S. Election Atlas).

They decided on this method because they did not want the smaller states to be overlooked or uninformed in the months leading up to the presidential election. There was also the concern that candidates would be favored by their home state or the entire region. Sure, that makes sense then, when there were only 13 states and communication was limited.

However, with the help of television, radio, phones and, oh, yeah, the INTERNET, political candidates can reach nearly every voter in the country. Thanks to social media, we even have fake news to “educate” the voters.

There may be some false hope out there for those who didn’t vote for Trump. You may be thinking electors in the Electoral College could just not vote per their state’s popular votes. These are called “Faithless Electors” and there has only been one in each of the following election years: 1948, 1956, 1960, 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1988 (United States House of Representatives).

Again, 99 per cent of electors vote according to their party and do not deviate from their state’s vote. Plus, who wants to be called a “faithless elector” after you’ve served a political club (sorry, party).

There is something the mainstream media hasn’t been discussing lately, what with the mass protests and displays of prejudice. When the electoral votes are tallied during a Joint Session of Congress, there is a chance there will be an objection to individual electoral votes. An objection must be filed in writing by a Senator and House Representative.

“After each house votes on whether or not to accept the objection, the Joint Session reconvenes and both chambers disclose their decisions. If they agree to the objection, the votes in question are not counted. If either chamber does not agree with the objection, the votes are counted” (U.S. House).

This has only happened in the 1969 and 2005 Joint Session of Congress. Both times, the objections have been rejected and the votes were upheld.

The sole purpose of the Electoral College is to guarantee informed decisions have been made to elect the President of the United States, free from political or regional bias. However, the Electoral College is full of biased individuals who, in most cases, have pledged to vote according to their affiliated party.

Tell me again why we need to keep the Electoral College.

United States Archives https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/about.html

https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/electors.html#restrictions

U.S. Election Atlas http://uselectionatlas.org/INFORMATION/INFORMATION/electcollege_history.php

History, Art and Archives: United States House of Representatives http://history.house.gov/Institution/Electoral-College/Electoral-College/

CNN http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/01/06/electoral.vote/