As usual after every presidential election, the losing party has begun finding fault with the Electoral College, that “undemocratic and outmoded relic of the past”, while the winners defend “the wisdom of the Founding Fathers”. Ever since Donald Trump won the election, despite losing the popular vote, it was predictable that the Democrats would seek to do away with the Electoral College, the Republicans would defend it, and the American public would forget that it was just the opposite ten years ago.
Because both are right.
The Democrats say the Founders created the Electoral College as the only practical way to count votes at the time. Now, they say, that’s no longer true, and anything less than direct election of the president is undemocractic. They are right, but it’s not the end of the story.
The Republicans also have a valid point. Concentration of population in large cities could disenfranchise entire sections of the nation in a purely popular election. Whoever wins New York, California, and Texas would always win, and the rest of the country would have no voice. They are also right. But there’s another point that both parties are missing.
The Framers of the Constitution were the same men who’d led the Revolution, and they were passionate about liberty, even at the cost of democracy. The Electoral College is neither a relic of the past, nor a mere defense against regionalism, but a defense against a failure of democracy itself. Had the founders merely been concerned with difficult communications or regional fairness, they would have mandated that electors always vote according to the results of their district elections. They did not. In most states, Electors can change their vote after the first ballot. If there is no clear winner, the Electoral College votes again and again, until there is a clear winner. That’s how Jimmy Carter was elected--on the fourth ballot.
There’s great wisdom in this. Venezuela has been in an election crisis since January, when their National Assembly declared incumbent Nicolás Maduro's reelection invalid, and named Juan Guaidó the new president. Backed by the military, Maduro refuses to step down. Recognized as the rightful winner by over fifty countries, Guaidó refuses to give up. Neither will budge, there’s no legal way to re-run the election, and the country spirals into chaos.
Other democracies have suffered similar pitfalls. The United Kingdom is having such a problem right now. The public voted to leave the European Union. Parliament won’t accept the prime minister’s plan, and the EU won’t allow delays. Brexit may prove the ruin of both the UK and the EU.
The world’s longest-lived democracy, the United States of America, has avoided such crises, because our founders were not wedded to a perfect democracy. They understood that democracy doesn’t always work, and gave us the Electoral College to save us... from ourselves. Yes, it’s clumsy, unfair, and undemocratic. But it works. Long live the Electoral College!
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