Post 41

I must admit, reading the history of the last 5-6 elections it had become apparent to me that the electoral college was indeed a relic of the past. The founding fathers had established this system for two reasons. 1.) They did not want elections being decided by one geographic area simply because that area was more heavily populated than another. 2.) The founders were on high horses and believed people were not capable enough to directly elect our President. The last time the electoral college had come into play was way back in 1881. Following that election, the majority of the Presidential elections were decided by a large enough margin that the electoral college never even came into play. My resolve for eliminating the electoral college was firm right up until election day of this year.

The yet undecided Presidential election of 2000 makes a very strong case for keeping the electoral college and thrusts upon us even more the wisdom and vision our founders had. Right now, we are in a legal mess in the state of Florida. Florida's 25 electoral votes are going to decide this election. Thankfully, we are only dealing with a total of 6 million votes in one state. There are so many lawsuits being filed in Florida, it is hard to keep up. It is almost impossible to imagine the mess we would have were this a nationwide issue.

As it stands right now, Gore is leading in the popular vote by around 200,000 votes. That would make every vote in every state that much more critical, no matter how much of a spread there was between candidates in those states. It would take a year to recount all the votes in all 50 states. Close states would be contested. Lawsuits would be filed all across the country. It would be disastrous. For that reason alone, it is worth keeping the electoral college just to make sure we dont have those types of problems.

Another strong case can be made when you examine the geographic results of this election. Should we go to a direct popular vote, it is conceivable that the election would be decided by a few large states where most of America resides. When you compare the amount of people that live in New York, California, Illinois, and Pennslyvania to that of many of the midwestern and southern states, the total population is dominant in the former states. However, a good number of these southern and midwestern states can make up that difference alone in the electoral college. The election as it stands makes that clear. Should Bush win Florida, he will have won 30 states, as opposed to Gore winning 20, including Washington DC. The people of South Dakota clearly need the electoral college in order to have their voice heard.

Now, I do believe some changes in the electoral college are needed. Currently, in all states, save for Maine and Nebraska, it is a winner take all scenario. Gore could beat Bush by one vote in California but still get all 54 electoral votes. Nebraska and Maine dole out there electoral votes based on Congressional districts. The winner of the state gets two electoral votes each for the Senators in those states, but if the candidates split the Congressional districts in Nebraska, they get one electoral vote each.

This would create a more fair system with respect to the electoral votes and make it easier to determine a winner. The evidence is clear that if Florida had this system in play right now, there would only be a fight over two electoral votes, and they might not even be a factor in determining who the winner would be.

This election, I believe, has taught this country a few valuable lessons. We need to update the machinery we use to count votes. In a country that is so technologically advanced, it is almost embarassing that we still use punch card ballots in any of our states. States need to clean up their election laws. There needs to be laws that are much more clear, much more uniform and would make it easier to determine what is the direct course of action should there be any disputes. The question is, after two-three years, are the states and the country going to become complacent again and allow it to happen again?