[il Padrino Ute]

Originally Posted by Cali Coug

There are advantages to the electoral college (and disadvantages).

The first reason the college was created was so that electors would be elected from each state who, theoretically, would be wiser than the general population in choosing the president. There is no constitutional rule that the electors must vote the same way the state votes. Under the constitution, the electors are free to disregard completely the votes of the majority of the population of their state. Most states have established their own rules that require the electors to follow the majority vote of the state, but not all have.

The second was to protect the small states by giving each state at a minimum 3 electors (2 for each senator the state has and one for each representative). The actual effect has been over-representation of small states (due to giving each of them 2 additional electors for their senators which is the same number given to large states).

There are benefits to the system. For example: it is harder to defraud a system based on electors than it is a system based on national voting. Additionally, imagine a scenario like in 2000 where, rather than recounting just ballots cast in Florida, the entire nation had to recount the votes. It wouldn't make sense to only recount Florida, since a vote in Florida has equal impact on the race as a vote cast in North Dakota. As it was in 2000, a bad voting system in Florida only impacted Florida and its votes.

I totally disagree with Woot about giving more power to more states by eliminating the electoral college. Elimination would vest total control in states with huge populations, and the bonus of 2 extra votes for the smaller states would disappear.

Well stated.

Wow, we can agree - and not just on The Three Amigos.