Electoral College Needed If Voters Aren’t Really Free

Citizen voters in 18th-century America seem mythical and idealized by today’s standards.  The country was small, cities were few, and towns were very rural.  God-fearing farm families were the norm.  

     Electing political representatives back then was perhaps more of a convenience than a necessity. Voting was more like a local election.  You probably knew the person you were voting for.  But even then, the electoral college was intended to make up for shortcomings in the electorate and popular vote.  Original sin was part of our human make-up.

     Opinions about candidates for state and national offices today, however, are typically not based on personally knowing those we’re voting for.  Candidates are the products of media campaigns that project carefully spun images based on financial receipts from wealthy donors and other thieves of democracy.

     Even our local races rely on shallow name recognition from yard signs and television ads.  National campaigns are often won by the most good-looking candidate, or the one promising more welfare giveaways.  

     Education at all levels tends to be highly politicized today, without teachers and professors even realizing they’re doing so.  Students are steered toward the left, while the right is demonized.  Conservative faculty identify themselves as independents if they want to keep their jobs and promotions.

      The “news” industry was no different in the 2016 presidential campaign.  Too bad, since most voters don’t perceive media bias.  There is little pretense about reporting only spin-free facts, or insisting upon fairness and balance.

      There are no voter qualifications based upon citizen responsibilities or requirements.  No minimum IQ.  No knowledge of the candidates or issues.  No sense of what makes a good citizen.  Almost every adult is eligible.  

     On the other hand, even the brightest and most mature young people are turned away at the polls if underage, though some are in the military or are mothers or fathers.  No one wants to even think about suffrage for children.  Horrors if we were to administer a simple test for children to find those who might qualify to vote.  

     Next would come the embarrassing demand that adults be given the exact same test.  Likewise, how many university faculty would come up short if they were asked to take the SAT, ACT, or graduate entrance exam in their own fields?

       Being independent doesn’t mean what it used to.  In short, people aren’t as free as they think they are.  So maybe the electoral college is good insurance against the popular vote after all.  We don’t want to lapse into mob rule, rigged or engineered elections, or worse.

     There are various ways to achieve vote equality other than head count (in which the Democratic Party hopes to win elections by flooding the US with Third World immigrants).  During the first 11 years of the USA, each state had an equal vote in all national matters.  The UN carries on this tradition to some extent.  A more egalitarian unit of representation might be one vote for each county in the US.