Fecteau: Abolish the Electoral College

Thursday, December 01, 2016

 

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Electoral College in NY PHOTO: Thinkprogress.org

Isn’t it about time we abolish the electoral college? This last election is more proof than ever that it serves no purpose, but to create an unnecessary, convoluted layer to an already hard to understand voting system, and disenfranchises voters. 

The electoral college is indeed complicated. There are approximately 538 electors; the number of electors in each state is the same as the number of federal delegates of each respective state in Congress. This past November’s presidential election was a vote for whom the electorate will vote, not a direct vote for president. Confused yet? To win the presidency, a candidate must reach 270 electoral votes. If the threshold is not met, the decision goes to the House of Representatives. 

Coming this December 19th 2016, the electors will record their votes in each state. A majority will decide to elect Mr. Donald Trump the next president. If this sounds odd to you, it is. There is a small group of people that decide for millions of voters who will be the next commander-in-chief. According to some state laws and historical norms, the electors vote for whomever won their respective state. So technically speaking, the election isn’t over just yet for the electors have not yet voted, and are forced to vote for the winners of their individual state. 

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Originally, it was designed this way for a reason. The college was meant to be a buffer to ensure that an educated class of people would be able to prevent a manipulative haranguer from taking power. This is no longer the case. Because of the aforementioned state laws and historical norms introduced gradually overtime, electors vote for the candidate that won in each state with few exceptions. 

Some have argued against abolishing the electoral college because some states would have their influence diluted. Since its inception, the electoral college was always a compromise ensuring smaller states had more influence on the national stage. A direct vote would give disproportionate influence to the states that have the highest concentration of people, so the critics contend. However, does it matter? If a candidate receives the highest number of votes regardless of the state, who cares? It is the people will; geographically irrelevant. 

While Mr. Donald Trump won the electoral college vote, Mrs. Hillary Clinton has a significant lead among the popular vote. At the time of this writing, Clinton is approximately just over two million votes leading Trump, and the count continues to rise. If the election were determined by popular vote, Clinton would be our next president. 

Some electors are causing trouble. Thus far, a number of electors are abandoning Trump. They are attempting to persuade other electors to do the same, and in some cases, disobey the state law. This seems like a futile move. If Trump’s electoral vote count drops below 270, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives will pick the next president, expectedly Trump. 

This time, the electoral college failed on a grand scale. Trump is categorically the most unfit, and unqualified individual to win the presidency. He is simply a reality television star with a sketchy business backroom and a couple of catchy phrases. The electors were meant to prevent individuals like Trump from gaining power. 

This is the second time in contemporary history the electoral college failed to represent the will of the people. In 2000, then United States Vice President Al Gore won the popular vote for president, but then Governor George W. Bush won the electoral college vote. With such a hideous track record, perhaps it is time to consider other options. 

The electoral college is enshrined in our Constitution so it will likely require an amendment to repeal, but we should at least entertain the notion. The college seems to be an antiquated system that fails to represent the people. Many believe their vote merely doesn’t count because they are voting for electors. If we had a direct election system, this could inspire more people to vote because their vote would sincerely be counted. 

We should abolish the electoral college. We do not live in the 18th century anymore, and the president should be elected by the people, not a small group of elitists. This is an insult to democracy, and an affront to a much more sophisticated society than that of yesteryear.   

  

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Matt Fecteau ([email protected]) of Pawtucket, Rhode Island was a Democratic candidate for office in 2014 and 2016. He is a former White House national security intern and Iraq war veteran.

 

Related Slideshow: Winners and Losers - 2016 Election

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Winner

Joe Trillo and John DePetro

While most Republicans in Rhode Island were hiding in the bushes, Trillo (the former GOP lawmaker) and DePetro (the WPRO talk show host) were loyal advocates for Donald Trump from the beginning and through the rough spots.

Both could be big winners and could score slots with the administration -- want to go to the White House? You now know the rings you need to kiss.

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Winner

Donald Trump, President of the United States

The most unlikely candidate pulled off the biggest victory in Presidential history. The billionaire developer was underestimated which set forth much of his success during the primaries and in the election. The next four years will never be dull.   

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Winner

General Michael Flynn

The Rhode Island native and URI grad will have a major roll in the Trump Administration and America's foreign policy. As top GOP consultant Ian Prior wrote in GoLocal in July about Flynn when he was on the VP shortlist:

Of course, there are any number of national security experts that can prosecute the case against Hillary Clinton, but Flynn is unique. He is a registered Democrat that was appointed by President Obama in 2012 to serve as Director of the DIA. Even more importantly, he resigned two years later over what he believed to be a misguided approach by the administration as it concerned ISIS.

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Loser

Nellie Gorbea, Secretary of State

This year's election was one of the the most mismanaged in modern Rhode Island history. First, the Chief-of Staff of the Secretary of State's office gets into a battle with talk show host John DePetro on social media. The action seemed inappropriate at best for the head of the office administering the election.

Then, the state's Presidential election hit a number of rough spots with faulty equipment and a failed repair and triage system that lead to long lines and frustration in a number of communities across the state.

The job of Secretary of State has three major components:

1) Take care of the State's achieves

2) Maintain a database of businesses

3) Run the state's elections

She needs to assure voters that she understands the problems and correct the mistakes.

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Loser

Brandon Bell, GOP Chair

Both Democratic Congressional candidates won big. The GOP had a net loss in the legislature.

Bell went all in on taking out Speaker Nick Mattiello -- a pro-business legislator, instead of recruiting a large number of competitive candidates. If Mattiello delivers of paper ballots like his campaign claims - Bell will have wildly miscalculated at every level and will have left the GOP a weaker party.

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Losers

Cicilline and Langevin

A Trump win greatly increases the likelihood that Rhode Island will lose a Congressional seat in the next federal redistricting. Rhode Island will be more like Vermont and Delaware -- two Senators and just one House member. This will mean a big loss for Rhode Island's clout in D.C.

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Winner

Allan Fung, Republican Mayor of Cranston

Fung had just the kind of night he wanted to have. He ran up big numbers against Democrat Mike Sepe and put parkinggate in his proverbial rear window.

The margin of victory is impressive -- Fung ran up 68% of the vote and has established himself as one of the top Republicans in Rhode Island.

Now, the personable Fung is the GOP frontrunner to challenge Raimondo as it does not look like she is going to Washington, D.C. now.

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Loser

RI's Broken Technology Infrastructure 

No money, no car, and no vote.

Lets see if we got this right. You have to wait in line to vote in some locations for as much as two hours because not enough scanners were deployed. Some days you can't register your car because the Hewlett-Packard system is not deployed and the state is now suing the company. And, tens of thousands of folks most in need have not been able to get their most critical benefits (or the from benefits) because the UHIP technology was flawed despite hundreds of millions being spent. 

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Winner

Speaker of the House, Nick Mattiello

If Mattiello does hold on to his House seat, he will be a stronger Speaker than ever before. He has added more Democrats to his majority and was the architect to many of the Democrats victories. 

The simmering stress between Mattiello and Raimondo will turn into a vibrant boil over during the next two years. Raimondo was no help to Mattiello or House members -- they had to clean up for her truck tolls and absorb her unwillingness to release 38 Studios documents.

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Loser

Gina Raimondo, Governor

Raimondo's options and national political network just took a major blow. No longer can Raimondo jump to the Clinton Administration to avoid a difficult reelection. Moreover, national Democratic connections are now in Siberia as the Presidency, the House and the Senate are all in Republican hands.

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Loser

Peter F. Neronha United States Attorney District of Rhode Island 

In a short period, it is highly likely the Neronha and a few other high profile political appointees will be replaced by the Trump White House. 

The impact of Ray Gallison and others is an unknown.

 
 

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