Does My Vote Count?
A look at the mysterious Electoral College. Why do we have it, what’s the idea, and how we can improve it.
I’m heading to the polls, a slate of choices on my iPhone, going to cast my vote. I love casting my vote. The entire process feels like the ultimate privilege.
When I was a teen, my family spent some time in South Africa, a nation where people had to die to secure the right to vote. I never forgot the lessons I learned watching that struggle. I vote. In honor of my nation and the blood spilled to give me this privilege. I can’t wait.
The Electoral College has been a cornerstone of the U.S. presidential election system since its inception. I’m pretty suspicious of the whole idea. It feels like a choice to protect the interest of slave-holders and elitists, a tool of the powerful, not something we want in a modern-day democracy.
While it has served its original purpose of balancing power between states, it has also delivered two presidents in the last twenty-four years representing a minority of voters. Both those presidents were Republicans. One of the decisions was ultimately made by the five justices of the Supreme Court; a minority choice made by five people doesn’t feel that balanced; it feels biased.
These choices had massive consequences for the nation. It has put the Electoral College front and…
