Any time the Democrats lose an election, you can count on them wanting to change the rules.

Their latest target is the Electoral College, a system that was put in place by the Founding Fathers to ensure that populous states would not overpower less populated ones when selecting the president. They felt the president should represent the country as a whole rather than the population majority of a section of the country. In effect, it mirrored their work in establishing an equitable number of representatives and senators for each state.

The Electoral College results and the overall popular vote results usually match. But a few times there is a difference, as in this election, which resulted in a stunning loss for the Democrat candidate.

“That is it! We must get rid of the Electoral College. It is not fair! The popular vote should rule” is the new battle cry.

Let’s look at the results of the election: Out of 3,141 total counties, Donald Trump won 2,626 counties and Hillary Clinton won 487 counties. That equals 83.6 percent to 16.4 percent. Trump won 30 states to Clinton’s 20. That equals 60 percent to 40 percent. Trump won the Electoral College 306 to Clinton’s 232. That equals 56.8 percent to 43.2 percent.

By observing the county and state results alone, it is clear that Trump won more of the voting districts than Clinton.

True, her 487 counties were more populated; hence, her popular vote plurality. But Trump’s county and state victories were more representative of the wishes of the country as a whole, not the population centers. That makes Trump the rightful winner of the election.

The United States is a representative democracy, not a direct democracy. Therefore the Electoral College is a rightful component of that system. The direct vote has no bearing on the outcome of presidential elections.

Gerald Caruso

Falmouth

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