In a Jan. 3 letter, a reader (Peter Konieczko) advocated abolishing the Electoral College, then he gave one reason why we need the Electoral College: “A presidential election by popular vote would emphasize the most populous states like California, Texas, Florida and New York, and make swing states irrelevant.”
The framers of our Constitution were wise beyond measure. They were afraid of some states becoming too powerful at the expense of less populous states like Maine (the 42nd most populous state). So they formed a legislature, with a House of Representatives, its members elected by the size of a state’s population. And a Senate, with exactly two members elected for each state.
The Electoral College gives each state one elector for each senator and representative. This keeps a balance of power in presidential elections.
This also keeps a diffusion of powers among federal, state and local governments, instead of one strong central government, like China. If we don’t want states to have any power, we won’t need a Senate, and state governments would lose power. We could end up with a parliamentary form of government, like India.
Paraphrasing Winston Churchill, our constitutional republic is the worst form of government, except for every other form of government.
Allan Neff
Scarborough
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