Your Say: Electoral College protects, disenfranchises
Comments from Facebook:
The best reason to eliminate the Electoral College is it leads to voter disenfranchisement. Millions of people will not vote because their state is "a lock" for one candidate, and that defeats the purpose of democratic elections.
Czerny Ambrose
The system of government in the USA is not a democracy. It is a representative republic. There is a major difference. In a democracy, the majority rules, period. States with sparse populations would never have a chance in a democracy, and our forefathers knew this and put into the Constitution safeguards against an oligarchy.
Peter Hoover
The Electoral College comes from an 18th century mind-set. Also, money is corrupting our elections. There should be one primary day for all parties with one month to campaign, and an additional month to campaign for the general election. The elections should be publicly funded. Adopt direct voting by the people. We spend too much time on the election, so we get nothing done in the Congress.
Sam M Sainju
As someone who lived in a South American "democracy" for 10 years, I appreciate the Electoral College now more than ever. A popular vote almost never produces a winner the first time around. Then the nation has a costly runoff election a month later, another month of mud-slinging and bitterness. Nobody is happy in the end.
Bruce Parsons
Letter to the editor:
We must remember the Electoral College system was put in place by our slave-owning Founders at a time when only white, land-owning men could vote. Further anti-democratic effects include the corporate-dominated monopoly we now have. Millions of dollars are funneled exclusively into the Democratic and Republican candidates. Third-party candidates have no chance of competing or influencing the outcome.
Vital minority opinions are stifled no matter how valid. The end result is a watered-down national presidential debate with critical issues such as corrupt banks off the table.
Anthony Lorts; Sarasota, Fla.