Comments by Java Mann

Qwerty %*#!! The keyboard I use to write this, the QWERTY, was originally designed to slow the typist down because primitive typewriters would jam if the typist worked too fast. The fact that any computer could easily outmatch my typing speed makes this obsolete, yet it remains the standard. Daylight savings time was useful when we were an agricultural society, giving farmers longer days to work their fields, and the 180-day school year freed students to work the summers on their family’s farms. We are no longer an agricultural society.

The Electoral College served a purpose as well. In the 18^th century travel was hard and communications were slow. There were no major organized political parties and voters were not as educated as they are today. (Insert your own jokes here.) The primary purpose of the Electoral College was to prevent dissention, and to keep the States from promoting favorite sons unacceptable to the country. Voters would select a representative, someone they trusted, someone whose values reflected their own, and those chosen would then select a President. For it’s time the Electoral College worked. It no longer works.

The problems of the 18^th century are not the problems of the 21^st. Information travels at the speed of light thanks to radio, TV and the Internet. Travel is fast and easy, provided none of the airlines are engaged in labor disputes. During the primaries, in my hometown it is difficult to avoid potential candidates. Organized or not, we do have political parties, and there is nothing (aside from their own apathy) preventing voters from becoming fully educated concerning any candidate or issue.

The sad reality is that though a solution to the problems of the 18^th century, the Electoral College has become the cause of many of today’s problems. In this country’s relatively brief history 15 candidates have won the Presidency without winning a majority of the votes cast. Though perfectly legal, this is extremely wrong. 

Consider please, that in order to acquire the EC votes necessary to win, a candidate need only win 11 states, effectively making the votes of the remaining states superfluous. Consider also that the EC fairly negates the democratic concept of one-person one vote. Combined, the least populated States in the country have 21 EC votes, about the same as the State of Florida, though their combined populations are less than one third of Florida’s. The Winner-takes-all reality of the EC process, by design, negates the possibility of a third party candidate ever taking the Presidency. 

The controversy surrounding the EC is not new, though a lot has been written about it in the past month, most, directly or indirectly connected to the recent events in Florida. Curiously history has a habit of repeating itself. The recent election bears a striking resemblance to the election in 1876, complete with the Supreme Court of Florida deciding the ultimate outcome, reinforcing the fact that the EC has and can be manipulated to a decided outcome. 

Efforts to eliminate the Electoral College have been underway for some time. The most recent of note being a bill introduced to the US Senate in 1976, but since the EC is enshrined in the United States Constitution, it will require a Constitutional Amendment to bring about real change. Unfortunately, since both the Democrats and Republicans have found the EC beneficial, it is unlikely either will make an honest effort to bring about the changes required. 

Here’s hoping that this latest controversy will inspire enough voters to express their outrage, and, at the grassroots level, force our elected officials to act responsibly. 

JM

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