One of the most difficult concepts to grasp in politics and the election process, and as a result the most off-putting to people that don’t know much about it, is the Electoral College.

Why is it that in a country where we have the freedom of a democratic system, we make it so complicated that we turn off the very people we are trying to get to vote?

Why do we have the Electoral College?  It’s so that people wouldn’t elect the president directly.  The framers of the Constitution thought that the public was generally too stupid to vote for their own leader, so voters were put a step away from the process.

It’s a way for the educated population to have one more advantage over those who were not so fortunate in life.  If they make the system so complicated  that people don’t get involved in it, then they’re really exercising their control of those who aren’t as educated. As a result, this small portion of the population runs the country because they won’t speak up with our vote.

In the Electoral College system, a candidate can win the vote of the people, and still lose the election because they lost the electoral vote.

The system is based on congressional representatives rather than actual voters.  For instance, if 18 million people vote in California and 18 million people vote in Texas, California still gets to cast its 55 electoral votes, while Texas only gets to cast 38.  This is because California’s population is higher than in Texas.

It’s a pretty ridiculous gap in logic.  Even if 10 percent of California votes, at about 3.7 million people, and 100 percent of Texas votes, at about 25.6 million people, California still gets to use its 55 electoral votes and Texas is still stuck with their 38.

Does that mean they’re saying that some votes mean more than others?

In the 2000 presidential election, California voters cast approximately 10,800,000 popular votes, and cast 54 electoral votes in the Electoral College.  Wyoming voters cast about 213,000 popular votes and three electoral votes.  So California cast one electoral vote for every 200,000 popular voters, while Wyoming cast one electoral vote for every 71,000 popular votes, giving each Wyoming voter almost three times more influence in the Electoral College than each California voter.

There is something truly wrong with a system that can, in any way, declare that one person’s vote is more important than another person’s simply because of where they live.

In that election, Vice President Al Gore won the popular vote with 50,999,897 votes, while Gov. George W. Bush had 50,456,002 votes.  Despite that Gore won the popular vote by over a half-million votes, Bush received 271 electoral votes and Gore only received 266. The Electoral College is another layer of red tape designed to confuse people out of getting involved in the “smart people only” political system.  Many people that are into politics will tell you not to vote unless you understand the issues and the system.  That is their method of making you inferior to them.  If they can confuse you so much that you stay home on Election Day, that means they are the ones making the laws and you are the ones abiding them.

It’s a flawed system that desperately needs to be abolished.  It’s so complicated for someone to and understand that they don’t even realize how flawed the system is.

The idea of the Electoral College was based on the standards of a different time.  It was before widespread literacy, during a time when a significant percentage of white adults were illiterate.  Now we have 24 hour news channels, and newspapers and internet access are easily accessible.

I think it’s time we step out of the shadow of our forefathers and think for ourselves.