About time the Electoral College vanished

On December 15, the United States will endure a quadrennial ritual born in the economics and politics of slavery and the quill-pen era. Members of the Electoral College are scheduled to meet in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia to formally choose the next president. There is no real doubt about how the electors will vote, but it is disturbing that they have any role at all in making this vital choice in the 21st century. The Electoral College is more than just an antiquated institution: It actively disenfranchises voters and occasionally (think 2000) makes the candidate with fewer popular votes president. American democracy would be far stronger without it.

One of the main reasons the founders created it was slavery. The Southern states liked the fact that their slaves, who would be excluded from a direct vote, would be counted — as three-fifths of a white person — when Electoral College votes were apportioned. The founders also were concerned, in the day of the wooden printing press, that voters would not have enough information to choose candidates...

And, while these reasons for the Electoral College have lost all relevance, its disadvantages loom ever larger. [T]he system excludes many voters from a meaningful role in presidential elections. If you live in New York or Texas, for example, it is generally a foregone conclusion which party will win your state’s electoral votes, so your vote has less meaning... On the other hand, if you live in Florida or Ohio, where the outcome is less clear, your vote has a greatly magnified importance. Voters in small states are favoured because Electoral College votes are based on the number of senators and representatives a state has. The Electoral College also makes America seem more divided along blue-red lines than it actually is.

From a leader in ‘The International Herald Tribune’

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