vote is not counted equally because each state regardless of its size has two Senators and at least one Representative; the vote of citizens from smaller populous states is worth substantially more than somebody’s vote from a larger populous state. These consequences reach far beyond simple fairness issues. Too many times in American history, the Electoral College has single-handedly defeated the purpose of democracy in this country. Since the first Presidential election, there have been more than a dozen instances in which somebody has been elected without a majority of votes, and, in a handful of particularly awful moments, the official winner in the electoral college’s election was actually defeated in the popular election by another candidate, as stated previously. Additionally, the Electoral College acts as a major stumbling block for third party candidates. No third party has ever seriously contended with Republicans or Democrats in Presidential elections. In fact, even the most serious third party contender in recent memory has not been particularly serious. In 1992, a Reform party candidate, Texas billionaire Ross Perot, won nearly 12% of the popular vote. But the percentage of votes that he won in official tallies was completely insignificant. Despite his noteworthy victories in the popular vote, he failed to win a majority of a state and was not awarded a single electoral vote. Due to third parties repeated defeats, any momentum is quickly lost, for few will vote for a party that never wins. There would be numerous advantages to a constitutional amendment abolishing the Electoral College. People would finally have a direct say in choosing their President. Each and every vote would count and Americans could once again feel euphoric pride for their democracy. Democracy represents much that we value in government and, to a degree in life; freedom, control over our future, and concern with the fate of oth...
