Electoral College violates the principle of one person, one vote
The Democrats have won the popular vote in the past three elections, that is President Barack Obama’s two and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s.
Twice in my lifetime the Electoral College has skewed us. That is in George W. Bush vs. Al Gore and Hillary Clinton vs. Donald Trump.
Only about six states decide who will be president for 50 states! California is not one of those states, so it feels like our votes do not count. The Electoral College violates the democratic principle of one person, one vote.
In the 1787 Constitutional Convention, the Electoral College was put in place to placate the Southern states. The Three-Fifths Compromise allowed states to count each slave as three-fifths of a person. This ensured a southern majority in presidential races.
The last time I looked, we don’t have any slaves in America and each adult citizen is allowed to vote! For reformers, the best hope may lie in the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an agreement among states to award all of their electoral votes to the candidate who wins the popular vote in the election. This would be easier than trying to change the constitutional amendment.
Maggie Fertschneider, Atascadero
This story was originally published November 26, 2016 at 6:24 PM with the headline "Electoral College violates the principle of one person, one vote."